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Iftmffislie.d JLw JAMIE J frlTJi 3 1' , itecliLffl-a.se i'ame. 



1855. 



THE SOBER, HONEST, AND INDUSTRIOUS 



WORKING CLASSES OF BIRMINGHAM, 



THIS EDITION 



HUTTON'S HISTORY OF THEIR NATIVE TOWN, 



RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 



BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT, 



JAMES GUEST. 



PREFACE. 



The rapid increase of knowledge, in Birmingham, within 
the last fifty years ; the great demand and immense 
consumption of books, in small parts, or numbers, that 
could not be purchased by the working classes, if pub- 
lished in volumes, complete ; induced the publisher to 
suppose that an interesting record of facts would be 
acceptable to the intelligent mechanics of this populous 
and improving town. The quaint and frequently amusing 
style of Mr. Hutton, the first and only historian of 
Birmingham, caused his work to be fixed upon as the 
basis of this. For notwithstanding several accounts of 
Birmingham have been published since Mr. Hutton's ; 
they are all copied from his work, adding but few facts, 
not before recorded by him, and seldom disputing his 
assertions. The editor has availed himself of every 
means within, his reach to make the work complete, 
and worthy the support and encouragement of the 
working classes, for whom it was projected. 

The present mode of incorporating with the text, the 



IV PREFACE. 

new matter may, in some respects, be objectionable, but 
it can make no difference to the man who reads for 
information, and is of some advantage to him who reads 
for amusement. Without further comment the work is 
left to speak for itself, and the public to judge which is the 
most worthy of their support, this or the envious an&splenelic 
production of Wrightson and Webb, of New Street, 
commenced five weeks after this, from pure malice towards 
the publisher. 

JAMES GUEST. 

Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham, 
June 1, 1835. 



PREFACE 

BY THE LATE WILLIAM HUTTON, F. A. S. 



A preface rather induces a man to speak of himself, 
which is deemed the worst subject upon which he can 
speak. In a history we become acquainted with things, 
but in a preface with the author ; and, for a man to treat 
of himself, may be the most difficult task of the two ; 
for in history, facts are produced ready to the hand of 
the historian, which give birth to thought, and it is easy 
to clothe that thought in words. But in a preface, an 
author is obliged to forge from the brain, where he is 
sometimes known to forge without fire. In one, he only 
reduces a substance into form ; but in the other, he must 
create that substance. 

As I am not an author by profession, it is no wonder if 
I am unacquainted with the modes of authorship ; but I 
apprehend, the usual method of conducting the pen, is 
to polish up a sounding- title-page, dignified with scraps 
of Latin, and then to hammer up a work to fit it, as 
nearly as genius, or want of genius, will allow. 

We next turn over a new leaf, and open upon a 
pompous dedication, which answers many laudable pur- 
poses : if a coat of arms, correctly engraven, should step 
first into view, we consider it a singular advantage gained 
over a reader, like the first blow in a combat. The 



VI PREFACE. 

dedication itself becomes a pair of stilts, which advances 
an author something higher. 

As a horse-shoe, nailed upon the threshold of a cottage, 
prevents the influence of the witch ; so a first-rate name, 
at the head of a dedication, is a total bar against the 
critic ; but this great name, like a great officer, some- 
times unfortunately stands at the head of wretched troops. 

When an author is too heavy to swim of himself, it 
serves as a pair of bladders, to prevent his sinking. 

It is farther productive of a solid advantage, that of a 
present from the patron, more valuable than that from 
the bookseller, which prevents his sinking under the 
pressure of famine. 

But, being wholly unknown to the great names of 
literary consequence, I shall not attempt a dedication, 
therefore must lose the benefit of the stilt, the bladder, 
and the horse-shoe. 

Were I to enter upon a dedication, I should certainly 
address myself, " To the Inhabitants of Birmingham" 
For to them I not only owe much, but all ; and I think, 
among that congregated mass, there is not one person to 
whom I wish ill. I have the pleasure of calling many of 
those inhabitants Friends, and some of them share my 
warm affections equally with myself. Birmingham, like 
a compassionate nurse, not only draws our persons, but 
our esteem, from the place of our nativity, and fixes it 
upon herself : I might add, I was hungry, and she fed 
me ; thirsty, and she gave me drink ; a stranger, and 
she took me in. I approached her with reluctance, 
because I did not know her ; I shall leave her with 
reluctance, because I do. 

Whether it is perfectly consistent in an author, to 
solicit the indulgence of the public, though it may stand 
first in his wishes, admits a doubt; for, if his productions will 
not bear the light, it may be said, why does he publish ? 



PREFACE. Vll 

but, if they will, there is no need to ask a favour ; the 
world receives one from him. Will not a piece ever- 
lastingly be tried by its merit ? Shall we esteem it the 
higher, because it was written at the age of thirteen ? 
because it was the effort of a week ? delivered extem- 
pore ? hatched while the author stood upon one leg ? or 
cobbled, while he cobbled a shoe ? or will it be a recom- 
mendation, that it issues forth in gilt binding? The 
judicious world will not be deceived by the tinselled purse, 
but will examine whether the contents are sterling. 

Will it augment the value of this history, or cover its 
blunders, to say, that I have never seen Oxford? That 
the thick fogs of penury, prevented the sun of science 
from beaming upon the mind? That necessity obliged 
me to lay down the battledore, before I was master of the 
letters ? And that, instead of handling systems of know- 
ledge, my hands at the early period of seven, became 
callous with labour ? 

But, though a whole group of pretences will have no 
effect with the impartial eye, yet one reason pleads strongly 
in my favour — no such thing ever appeared as A History 
of Birmingham. It is remarkable, that one of the most 
singular places in the universe is without an historian : 
that she never manufactured an history of herself, who 
has manufactured almost every thing else ; that so many 
ages should elapse, and not one among her numerous sons 
of industry, snatch the manners of the day from oblivion, 
group them in design, with the touches of his pen, and 
exhibit the picture to posterity. If such a production had 
ever seen the light, mine most certainly would never have 
been written ; a temporary bridge, therefore, may satisfy 
the impatient traveller, till a more skilful architect shall 
accommodate him with a complete production of elegance, 
of use, and of duration. Although works of genius ought 
to come out of the mint doubly refined, yet history admits 



Vlll PREFACE. 

of a much greater latitude to the author. The best upon 
the subject, though defective, may meet with regard. 

It has long been a complaint, that local history is much 
wanted. This will appear obvious, if we examine the 
places we know, with the histories that treat of them. 
Many an author has become a cripple, by historically 
travelling through all England, who might have made a 
tolerable figure, had he staid at home. The subject is too 
copious for one performance, or even the life of one man. 
The design of history is knowledge ; but, if simply to tell 
a tale be all the duty of an historian, he has no irksome 
task before him ; for there is nothing more easy than to 
relate a fact ; but, perhaps, nothing more difficult than to 
relate it well. 

Having, many years ago, entertained an idea of this 
undertaking, I made some trifling preparations ; but, in 
1775, a circumstance of a private nature occurring, which 
engaged my attention for several years, I relinquished the 
design, destroyed the materials, and meant to give up the 
thought for ever. But the intention revived in 1780, and 
the work followed. 

I may be accused of quitting the regular trammels of 
history, and sporting in the fields of remark : but, although 
our habitation justly stands first in our esteem, in return 
for rest, content, and protection ; does it follow that we 
should never stray from it ? If I happen to veer a 
moment from the polar point of Birmingham, I shall 
certainly vibrate again to the centre. Every author has 
a manner peculiar to himself, nor can he well forsake it. 
I should be exceedingly hurt to omit a necessary part of 
intelligence, but more so to offend a reader. 

If grandeur should censure me for sometimes recording 
the men of mean life, let me ask, Which is preferable, 
he who thunders at the anvil, or in the senate ? The man 
who earnestly wishes the significant letters Esq. spliced 



PREFACE. IX 

to the end of his name, will despise the question ; but 
the philosopher will answer, " They are equal." 

Lucrative views have no part in this production : I 
cannot solicit a kind people to grant what they have 
already granted ; but if another finds that pleasure in 
reading, which I have done in writing, T am paid. 

As no history is extant, to inform me of this famous 
nursery of the arts, perfection in mine must not be 
expected. Though I have endeavoured to pursue the road 
to truth ; yet, having no light to guide, or hand to direct 
me, it is no wonder if I mistake it : but we do not con- 
demn, so much as pity, the man for losing his way, who 
first travels an unbeaten road. 

Birmingham, for want of the recording hand, may be 
said to live but one generation ; the transactions of the 
last age, die in this ; memory is the sole historian, which 
being defective, I embalm the present generation, for the 
inspection of the future. 

It is unnecessary to attempt a general character, for if 
the attentive reader is himself of Birmingham, he is 
equally apprized of that character ; and, if a stranger, he 
will find a variety of touches scattered through the piece, 
which, taken in a collective view, form a picture of that 
generous people, who merit his esteem, and possess 
mine. 



CONTENTS. 





Page 


Name .... 


1 


Situation .... 


3 


Soil .... 


6 


Water .... 


6 


Baths .... 


7 


Chalybeate Spring 


9 


Water Works 


10 


Air 


12 


Longevity .... 


12 


Ancient State of Birmingham 


16 


Battle of Camp Hill, 1643 . 


37 


Three Letters 


42 


A true relation of Prince Rvpert's barbarous 




cruelty against the town of Birmingham 


42 


A Letter written from Walshall, by a worthy 




Gentleman, to his Friend at Oxford, con- 




cerning Birmingham 


48 


Prince Rvpert's burning love discovered in 




Birmingham's flames . . 


52 


Extract 


60 


Marketplaces . 


62 


Modern State of Birmingham 


66 


Streets and their Names 


90 


Political Union .. 


96 


Solemn Declaration . 


143 


Election .... 


154 


Trade .... 


157 


Buttons . 


171 


Buckles .... 


174 


Swords . 


179 


Guns .... 


181 


Leather .... 


182 


Iron . . . .' . 


182 


Steel 


184 


Steel Pens . . 


186 


Brass Works 


187 


Brass Foundry 


188 


Pins . . . . . 


. 190 


Nails .■ . 


191 


Cut Nails . 


192 


Bellows .... 


193 


Thread .... 


194 


Printing .... 


195 


Brewery ... 


198 



Xll 



CONTENTS. 



Umbrella 

Hackney Coach 

Banks 

Wealth 

Government 

Constables 

High and Low Bailiffs 

Court of Requests 

Lamp Act 

Humane Society 

Commercial Committee 

Hay Market 

Public Library 

Public Education 

Statement of Public Education 

Religion and Politics 

Places of Worship 

St. Martin's 
\ St. John's Chapel, Deritend 

St. Philip's . 

St. Bartholomew's 

St. Mary's 

St. Paul's 

St. James' Chapel,, Ashted 

Christ Church 

St. George's Church 

Trinity Chapel 

St. Peter's 

St. Thomas's . 
All Saints 

Old Meeting 
New Meeting 
Particular Baptists 
^ . General Baptists 
Independents 
Methodists 

New Jerusalem Church 
Lady Huntingdon's Connexion 
Quaker's Meeting House 
Jewish Synagogue 
Roman Catholic Chapels 
Theatres 
Amusements 
Hotel 
Wakes 
Clubs 

lkenield Street 
Lords of the Manor 
Richard, 1066 
William, 1130 
Peter de Birmingham, 1 154 
William de Birmingham, 1216 
William de Birmingham, 1246 
William de Birmingham, 1265 
William de Birmingham, 1306 



Page 

199 

200 

201 

202 

211 

216 

218 

222 

223 

227 

227 

228 

228 

229 

239 

240 

243 

243 

257 

258 

265 

266 

266 

267 

267 

268 

269 

2/0 

270 

271 

271 

273 

276 

277 

277 

278 

281 

282 

283 

284 

284 

285 

288 

290 

292 

293 

297 

310 

312 

315 

315 

316 

317 

317 

318 



CONTENTS. 



xm 



William de Birmingham, Lord Birmingham 

1316 
Sir Fouk de Birmingham, 1340 
Sir John de Birmingham, 1376 
William de Birmingham, 1430 
Sir William Birmingham, 1479 
Edward Birmingham, 1500 
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, 1537 
Thomas Marrow, 1555 
Thomas Archer, Esq., 1746 . 
Andrew Lord Archer 
Manor House 
Pudding Brook 
The Priory . 
Clodshale's Chantry . 
John-a-Dean's-Hole 
Lench's Trust . 

Fentham's Trust . , 

Crowley's Trust 
Scott's Trust 
Free School 

Charity School, call the Blue School 
Dissenting Charity School 
Deaf and Dumb Institution 
Lancasterian School 

National or Madras School 

The Welsh Charity 

Infant School 

New Jerusalem Church Free School 

General Education of the Working Classes 

Workhouse . . ' 

The Asylum . 

Workhouse Bill 

Old Cross 

Welsh Cross . 

General Hospital 

Dispensary 

Self-Supporting Dispensary . 

Fever Hospital 

Institution for the Relief of Bodily Deformity 

Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye 

School of Medicine and Surgery 

Society of Arts 

Philosophical Society 

News Room 

Magdalen Asylum 

Musical Performances for aged and distressed 
Housekeepers 

Savings Bank 

Post Office 

Excise Office 

Stamp Office 

Assay Office 

Gun Barrel, Pre of House 
Cavalry Barracks 



Page 

318 
319 
319 

320 

321 

321 

322 

328 

328 

328 

329 

332 

332 

338 

340 

341 

343 

344 

344 

345 

353 

356 

356 

357 

358 

358 

359 

359 

360 

361 

370 

370 

376 

378 

380 

383 

384 

384 

385 

385 

385 

385 

386 

386 

386 

387 
387 
387 
388 
388 
388 
388 
389 



XIV 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Nelson's Statue . . . .390 

Deritend Bridge . . . .391 

Mechanics' Institution . . . 393 

Birmingham Fire Office . . . 393 

Gas Works ..... 394 

Beardsworth's Repository . . . 395 

Soho Manufactory .... 395 
Sir Edward Thomason's Manufactory, &c. . 399 
Town Hall . . . . .400 

The Town Hall Organ . .402 

Prison ..... 404 

County Goal of Warwick . . .407 

Petition for a Corporation . . .- 410 

Military Association . . .413 

Earthquake .... 416 

Pitmbre and Hammond . . .417 

Riots ..... 419 

Preface to Riots, 1791 . . .422 

The Riots of 1791, described . . 422 

The Conjurors .... 433 

Public Roads . ... . 435 

Canal . . . 438 

Bilston Canal Act . . . .441 

Gentlemen's Seats .... 443 
The Moats .... 445 

Black Greves .... 445 

Ulverly, or Culverley . • . . 446 

Hogg's Moat . . . .446 

Yardley . . • . . . 448 

Kent's Moat . . . 448 

Sheldon . . . . .449 

King's Hurst .... 449 

Coleshill . . . . .452 

Duddeston ..... 453 
Aston Church .... 456 

Edgbaston . . , . . . 457 

Saltley . . . . .458 

Ward End . . . . . 459 

Castle Bromwich .... 460 
Park Hall . . . . .462 

Berwood ..... 463 

Erdington . . • . .463 

Pipe . . . . .465 

Aston . . . . .466 

Witton . . . . .468 

Blakeley ..... 470 

Weoley ..... 471 

Sutton Coldfield .... 475 

Danes Camp ..... 478 
The Camp . . . . .478 

Mortimer's Bank .... 480 

High and Low Bailiff's, continued to 1834 . 482 
Court of Requests, continued . . 485 

Lawrence Street Chapel . . . 485 

The Japan Trade . .488 



LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. 



View of Birmingham, engraved on Steel, to 

face Vignette Title 
A General View 
Birmingham, in 1600 
View of Birmingham, in 1720 
Map 

St. Martin's Church ' . 
Ancient Arms of the family of Birmingham, &c. 
St. John's Chapel, Deritend 
St. Philip's 
St. Bartholomew's 
St. Mary's 
St. Paul's 
St. George's 
Trinity Chapel 
St. Thomas's . 
Old Meeting House 
Theatre 

Blue Coat Charity School 
Old Cross 
Welsh Cross 
Hospital 
Dispensary 

Society of Arts 

News Room 

Post Office 

The Soho 

Town Hall 

Prison 

New Meeting, destroyed at Riots 

Edgbaston Hall 

Old Meeting, destroyed at Riots 

Canal Office 

Aston Church 

Edgbaston Church 

Aston Hall 



Page 
1 * 

15 

68 
90 
243 
247 ' 
257 
258 
265 
266" 
266 
268 ' 
269 
270 
271 
285 
353 y 
376 > 
378 ' 
380 
383 
385- 
386' 
387 
395 / 
400 
404 L 
427 * 
431 
. 432/ 
, 438 / 
. 456* 
. 457 *- 
. 466 



,- 



THE 



HISTORY OF BIRMINGHAM, 



JYame. 

The word Birmingham, is too remote for certain explana- 
tion. During the last four centuries it has been variously 
written, Brumwycheham, Bermyngeham, Bromwycham, 
Burmyngham, Bermyngham, Byrmyngham, and Bir- 
mingham; nay, even so late as the seventeenth century it 
was written Bromicham. Dugdale supposes the name to 
have been given by the planter, or owner, in the time of 
the Saxons ; but, I suppose it much older than any Saxon 
date : Besides, it is not so common for a man to give a 
name to, as to take One from, a place. A man seldom 
gives his name except he is the founder, as Petersburg 
from Peter the Great. 

Towns, as well as every thing in nature, have exceed- 
ingly minute beginnings, and generally take a name from 
situation, or local circumstances. Would the lord of a 
manor think it an honour to give his name to two or three 
miserable huts ? But if, in a succession of ages, these huts 
swell into opulence, they confer upon the lord an honour, a 
residence, and a name. The terminations of stead, ham, 
and hurst, are evidently Saxon, and mean the same thing, 
a home. 



% HISTORY OF 

The word, in later ages reduced to a certainty, has 
undergone various mutations ; but the original seems to 
have been Bromwych ; Brom perhaps, from broom a shrub, 
for the growth of which the soil is extremely favourable ; 
Wych, a dwelling-, or a descent ; this exactly corresponds 
with the declivity from the High Street, to Digbeth. 
Two other places in the neighbourhood bear the same 
name, Castle-Bromwich and West-Bromwich, which serves 
to strengthen the opinion. 

Mr. Hamper says, "these derivations, however plausible, 
seem to have but little weight, when we consider that the 
Roman station, Bremeniimi, was on the Ikeneild Street, 
at this place. That word evidently bears a greater re- 
semblance to the present Birmingham, than to Mr. Hut- 
ton's hypothetical Bromtvich" Mr. Whitaker, the his- 
torian of Manchester says, " the name of Bremenium is 
composed from of Bre and Maen, the High Stone, and 
the site of it must therefore have been on the crest of the 
hill, at Birmingham. In the liber niger of the exchequer, 
it is written Bremingeham ; and in a list of no less than 
fifty changes, which the fluctuation of orthography has 
caused in the name of our town, I find nothing to support 
Mr. Hutton's conjecture, previous to the year 1336, when 
Burmyncham occurs." 

This infant colony, for many centuries after the first 
buddings of existence, perhaps, had no other appellation 
than that of Bromwych. Its centre, for many reasons 
that might be urged, was the Old Cross ; which stood 
near the spot where Nelson's monument now stands. 
The increase of the town, in those early ages, must have 
been very small. 

A series of prosperity attending it, its lord might assume 
its name, reside in it, and the particle ham would naturally 
follow. This very probably happened under the Saxon 
Heptarchy, and the name was no other than Bromivy chain. 



BIRMINGHAM. O 

Situation. 

It lies near the centre of the kingdom, in the north-west 
extremity of the county of Warwick, in a kind of peninsula, 
the northern part of which is bounded by Handsworth, in 
the county of Stafford, and the southern by King's-Nor- 
ton, in that of Worcester. It is in the diocese of Lich- 
field and Coventry, in the deanery of Arden, and in the 
hundred of Hemlingford. Latitude 52° 59' north ; lon- 
gitude 1° 48' west from Greenwich. It is distant from 
London, one hundred and nine miles ; Liverpool, ninety- 
six ; Manchester, eighty-one ; Sheffield, seventy-six ; 
Bristol, eighty-seven ; Warwick, twenty ; Coventry, eigh- 
teen ; Worcester, twenty-five ; Dudley, nine ; Wolver- 
hampton, fourteen ; Walsall, nine ; and from Lichfield, 
fifteen. 

Let us perambulate the parish from the bottom of 
Digbeth, thirty yards north of the bridge. We will pro- 
ceed south-west up the bed of the old river, with Deritend, 
*n the parish of Aston, on our left. Before we come to 
the flood-gates, near Vaughton's Hole, we pass by the 
Longmores, a small part of King's Norton. Crossing the 
river Rea., we enter the vestiges of a small rivulet, yet 
visible, though the stream has been turned, perhaps a 
thousand years, to supply the moat. At the top of the 
first meadow from the river Rea, we meet the little stream 
above mentioned, in the pursuit of which, we cross the 
Bromsgrove Road, a little east of the first mile stone. 
Leaving Banner's Marlpit to the left, we proceed up a 
narrow lane, crossing the Old Bromsgrove Road, and up 
to the turnpike at the Five Ways, in the road to Hales 
Owen. Leaving this road also to the left, we proceed 
down the lane, towards Ladywood, cross the Icknield 
Street, a stone's cast east of the observatory, to the north 
extremity of Rotton Park, which forms an acute angle, 



4 HISTORY OF 

near the Bear at Smethwick. From the river Rea to this 
point, is about three miles, rather west, and nearly in a 
straight line with Edgbaston on the left. We now bear 
north-east, about a mile, with Smethwick on the left till 
we meet Shirland Brook, in the Dudley Road ; thence to 
Pigmill. We now leave Handsworth on the left, following 
the stream through Hockley Great Pool, cross the Wolver- 
hampton Road, and the Ikenield Street at the same time 
down to Aston furnace, with that parish on the left. At 
the bottom of Walmer Lane we leave the water, move 
over the fields, nearly in a line to the post by the Peacock, 
upon Gosty Green. We now cross the Lichfield Road, 
down Duke Street, then the Coleshill Road at the A B 
House. From thence along the meadows to Cooper's 
Mill; up the river to the foot of Deritend Bridge, and 
then turn sharp to the right, keeping- the course of a 
drain in the form of a sickle, through John-a-Dean's Hole 
into Digbeth, from whence we set out. 

This little journey, nearly of an oval form, is about seven 
miles. The longest diameter from Shirland Brook to 
Deritend Bridge, is about three, and the widest, from the 
bottom of Walmer Lane to the rivulet, near the mile 
stone upon the Bromsgrove Road, more than two. 

The superficial contents of the parish, is two thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-four acres. Birmingham is by 
much the smallest parish in the neighbourhood, those of 
Aston and Sutton are each about five times as large, Yardley 
four, and King'sNorton eight. When Alfred, that great 
master of legislation, parished out his kingdom, or rather 
put the finishing hand to that important work, where he 
met with a town, he allotted a smaller quantity of land, 
because the inhabitants chiefly depended upon commerce ; 
but where there was only a village, he allotted a larger, 
because they depended upon agriculture. This observa- 
tion goes far in proving the antiquity of the place, for it is 



BIRMINGHAM. 5 

nine hundred years since this division took effect. The 
buildings occupy the south-east part of the parish, which, 
with their appendages, are about eight hundred acres. 
This part being insufficient for the extraordinary increase 
of the inhabitants, she has of late extended her buildings 
along the Bromsgrove Road, near the boundaries of 
Edgbaston ; and on the other side, planted many of her 
streets in the parish of Aston. Could the sagacious 
Alfred have seen into futurity, he would have augmented 
her borders. 

As no part of the town lies flat, the showers promote 
both cleanliness and health, by removing obstructions. 
The approach is on every side by ascent, except that from 
Hales Owen, north-west, which gives a free access of air, 
even to the most secret recesses of habitation. Thus 
eminently situated, the sun can exercise his full powers of 
exhalation. 

The foundation upon which this mistress of the arts is 
erected, is one solid mass of dry reddish sand. The 
vapours that rise from the earth are the great promoters 
of disease ; but here, instead of the moisture ascending to 
the prejudice of the inhabitant, the contrary is evident ; 
for the water descends through the pores of the sand, so 
that even our very cellars are habitable. Thus peculiarly 
favoured, this happy spot enjoys four of the greatest bene- 
fits that can attend human existence — water, air, the sun, 
and a situation free from damps. 

All the past writers upon Birmingham have viewed her 
as low and watery, and with reason ; because Digbeth, 
then the chief street, bears that description. But all the 
future writers will view her on an eminence, and with as 
much reason ; because, for one low street, we have now 
fifty elevated. Birmingham, like the empire to which she 
belongs, has been, for many centuries, travelling up hill ; 
and, like that, rising in consequence. 



HISTORY OK 



Soil. 

The soil is rather light, sandy, and weak ; and though 
metals, of various sorts, are found in great plenty, above 
the surface, we know of nothing below, except sand and 
gravel, stone and water. All the riches of the place, like 
those of an empiric, in laced clothes, appear on the outside. 

The northern part of the parish, consisting of seven 
hundred and eighty-seven acres, to the disgrace of the 
age, was a shameful waste, till the year 1800, when it was 
brought into cultivation, and is now some of the most 
valuable land in the parish. A small part of the land 
near the town, is parcelled out into little gardens, at ten or 
twenty shillings each, amounting to about sixteen pounds 
per acre. These are not intended so much for profit, 
as health and amusement. Others are let in detached 
pieces for private use, at about £4 per acre. So that 
this small parish cannot boast of more than six or 
eight farms, and these of the smaller size, at about £2 
per acre. Manure from the sty brings about sixteen 
shillings per waggon load, that from the stable about 
twelve, and that from the fire and the street, five. In 
1813, land let for £4 per acre, and manures were double 
what they were in 1782. In 1834, pasture land lets 
for £3 to £5 per acre ; manures are about twenty-five 
per cent cheaper than in 1813. 

Water. 

There is no natural river runs through the parish, but there 
are three that mark its boundaries, for about half its cir- 
cumference, described above : none of these supply family 
use. After penetrating into a body of sand, interspersed 
with a small strata of soft rock, and sometimes of gravel ; 



BIRMINGHAM. 



at the depth of about twenty yards, we come to plenty of 
water, rather hard. There are in the lower parts of the 
town, two excellent springs of soft water, suitable for most 
purposes ; one at the top of Digbeth, the other Lady 
Well : or rather, one spring 1 , or bed of water, with many 
outlets, continuing its course along the bottom of the hill, 
parallel with Smallbroke Street, Edgbaston Street, St. 
Martin's Lane, and Park Street, sufficiently copious to 
supply the whole City of London*. Water is of the first 
consequence, it often influences disease, always the habit 
of body : that of Birmingham is in general productive of 
salutary effects. 



Baths. 

At Lady Well are the most complete baths in the whole 
island. They are seven in number; erected at the expense 
of £2000. Accommodation is ever ready for hot or cold 
bathing ; for immersion or amusement, with conveniency 
for sweating. That appropriated to swimming, is eighteen 
yards by thirty-six, situated in the centre of a garden, in 
which there are twenty-four private undressing-houses ; 
the whole surrounded by a wall ten feet high. Pleasure 
and health are the guardians of the place. The gloomy 
horrors of a bath, sometimes deter us from its use, par- 
ticularly if aided by complaint ; but the appearance of 
these are rather inviting. We read of painted sepulchres, 
whose outsides are, richly ornamented, but loithin are full 
of corruption and death. The reverse is before us. 
No elegance appears without, but within are the springs of 
life ! In July, 1818, an attempt was made to prevent the 
public from having access to this ancient public well, but 

* In this our author is mistaken, for the supply is often limited in 
summer. 



o HISTORY OF 

this was successfully resisted by the water carriers, aided 
by the interference of the town commissioners. 

I do not know any author who has reckoned man among 
the amphibious race of animals, neither do I know any 
animal who better deserves it. Man is lord of the little 
ball on which he treads, one half of which, at least, is 
water. If we do not allow him to be amphibious, we 
deprive him of half his sovereignty. He justly bears that 
name, who can live in the water. Many of the disorders 
incident to the human frame are prevented, and others 
cured, both by fresh and salt bathing ; so that we may 
properly remark, " He lives in the water, who can find 
life, nay, even health in that friendly element." 

The greatest treasure on earth is health ; but, a trea- 
sure, of all others, the least valued by the owner. Other 
property is best rated when in possession, but this, can 
only be rated when lost. We sometimes observe a man, 
who, having lost this inestimable jewel, seeking it with an 
ardour equal to its worth ; but when every research by 
land is eluded, he fortunately finds it in the water. Like 
the fish, he pines away upon shore, but like that, recovers 
again in the deep. 

The cure of disease among the Romans, by bathing, is 
supported by many authorities ; among others by the 
number of baths frequently discovered, in which pleasure, 
in that warm climate, bore a part. But this practice 
seemed to decline with Roman freedom, and never after 
held the eminence it deserved. Can we suppose the phy- 
sician stepped between the disease and the bath, to hinder 
their junction ; or, that he lawfully holds, by prescription, 
the tenure of sickness, in fee f 

The knowledge of this singular art of healing, is at 
present only in infancy. How far it may prevent or con- 
quer disease ; to what measure it may be applied, in par- 
ticular cases, and the degrees of use, in different constitu- 



BIRMINGHAM. 

tions, are inquiries that will be better understood by a 
future generation. 



Chalybeate Spring. 

One mile from Birmingham, in the manor of Duddeston, 
and joining the turnpike road to Coleshill, is a chalybeate 
spring, whose water has but one defect — it costs nothing. 
This excellent spring lies forlorn, neglected, and exposed 
to every injury ; it seems daily to solicit protection, and 
offer its friendly aid in restoring health ; but being daily 
rejected, it seems to mourn the refusal, dissolve itself in 
tears, and not being allowed, though designed by nature, 
to increase the health of man, moves weeping along to 
increase a river. All the attention paid by the traveller is, 
to gaze for a moment, but in the height of contemplation, 
instead of taking out its water, deliver in his own. Had 
this water passed through a bed of malt instead of mineral, 
it would have drawn more attendants than the shrine of 
Thomas Becket, and those attendants would have stoutly 
disputed for every rising drop. 

Poverty assumes a variety of shapes , it is sometimes 
seen in the human, sometimes in the horse at the coal- 
cart, again in the pulpit, in the furniture of a house, or a 
head. But in whatever shape it appears, it is always 
despised. The low state, and the low credit of this well 
are equal. Merit is often depressed. Here the afflicted 
might find a prescription without expense, efficacious as 
if signed by the whole College of Physicians. The stick 
and the crutch would be nailed round its margin, as 
trophies of victory over disease. The use of the bottle 
adds to the spirits, but shortens the life ; this fountain is 
the renewer of health, the protractor of age. I remark, 
the water will lose some of its efficacy if carried off in 
any vessel but the stomach. 

c 



I" HISTORY QF 

Water- Works. 

Speculation, the main prop to commercial prosperity, 
never was carried to greater excess than in the years 
1824-5. Companies were formed for a great variety of pur- 
poses, with golden prospects ; but the greater part, like the 
South-Sea Bubble, burst at the panic in December, 1825.* 

Mr. Hutton says the springs in Digbeth are sufficiently 
copious to supply the city of London : had he lived till 
1834, he would have been convinced this opinion was 
fallacious : the supply having often failed in dry seasons, 
from the springs he mentions. All persons who have 
written upon Birmingham state the town to be well 
supplied with water ; yet experience tells us many parts 
are ill supplied. The water generally obtained from 
pumps is hard, and therefore unfit for washing, and other 
domestic uses. The old mode of supplying soft water by 
carts and cans, being both inconvenient and uncertain, a 
company was formed in 1825, to remove this defect. An act, 
incorporating the shareholders, was obtained in May, 1826. 

The authorised capital of the company is £120,000, in 
four thousand eight hundred shares of £25 each, with 
power to borrow £30,000 if required. The act provided 
that the estimated expense of £116,925 should be 
subscribed for, before the company commenced opera- 
tions. This sum was not completed till 1830, when .the 
works proceeded with the greatest activity, and are now 
in full operation. The. supply of water is obtained from 
the river Tame, and a brook near Salford Bridge, in the 
parish of Aston. The works are erected on the right- 
hand side of the road to Lichfield, near the second mile 
stone. There are two reservoirs : one is formed on the 

1 Six hundred and twenty-tour were projected, requiring a capital or 
,£372,173,000, of which X" 17,605,625 were actually advanced. — Report upon 
Bank Charter. 



BIRMINGHAM. 11 

left-hand side of the road, a short distance beyond the 
works ; and the other at Edgbaston, near the monument 
or Parrott's Folly, the residence of Dr. John Johnstone. 
The elevation of the latter is equal to the top of the 
Town Hall, and consequently water can be conveyed to 
the upper stories of the highest dwellings in Birmingham. 
These reservoirs are sufficiently capacious to contain a 
supply of water for the whole town for eight or ten weeks. 
Two beautiful engines of eighty-horse power each, are 
employed to force the water through iron pipes, thirty 
inches in diameter, from the lower reservoir to the one 
at Edgbaston, a distance of three or four miles, and to 
an elevation of eighty or ninety feet above the streams 
from whence the supply is obtained. The main pipes are 
constantly filled with water, and fire-plugs placed in every 
street. This regulation has been made available in many 
cases of fire with great advantage. 

The water is suitable for every purpose, domestic or 
manufacturing. Publicans, brewers, malsters, &c. where 
large supplies are necessary, may use it to advantage as an 
unlimited quantity can be obtained, without the great 
labour requisite to raise it by the common pump. The 
first supply of water was served in the house of H. Meri- 
deth, St. Paul's Square, March, 1831. 

The Charter empowers the Company to recover debts 
by distraint, and inflicts a fine of £5 for wasting water, 
or supplying others without permission from the company. 
The company is obliged to supply water to every person 
making a written application. The charges vary from 
nine shillings to two guineas per annum. Considerable 
sums are paid by the company to persons interested in the 
river from whence they draw their supply. Considering 
the great convenience, the purity of the water, and the 
low rates at which it is suppplied, the company have not 
met with that encouragement that was reasonably to be 



12 HISTORY OK 

expected ; the prejudice against the establishment is fast 
declining, and it may ere long, be as extensively useful, 
as its most sanguine projectors desired. 



Mr. 

As we have passed through the water, let us now inves- 
tigate her sister fluid, the air. They are both necessary to 
life, and the purity of both to the prolongation of it ; this 
small difference lies between them, a man may live a 
day without water, but not an hour without air. Tf a 
man wants better water, it may be removed from a distant 
place for his benefit ; but if he wants better air, he must 
remove himself. The natural air of Birmingham, perhaps, 
cannot be excelled in this climate, the moderate elevation 
and dry soil evinces this truth ; but it receives an alloy from 
the congregated body of one hundred and fifty thousand 
people, also from the smoke of an extraordinary number of 
fires used in business ; and perhaps more from the various 
effluvia arising from particular trades. It is not uncommon 
to see a man with green hair or a yellow wig, from his con- 
stant employment in brass; if he reads, the green vestiges of 
his occupation remain on every leaf, never to be expunged. 
The inside of his body, no doubt, receives the same 
tincture, but is kept clean by being often washed with ale. 
Some of the fair sex, likewise, are subject to the same 
inconvenience, but find relief in the same remedy. 



Longevity. 

Man is a time-piece — he measures out a certain space, 
then stops for ever. We see him move upon the earth, 
hear him click, and perceive in his countenance the marks 
of intelligence. His external appearance will inform us 
whether he is old-fashioned, in which case he is less valu- 



BIRMINGHAM. 13 

able upon every gambling calculation. If we cast a glance 
upon his face, we shall learn, Whether all be right within ? 
and what portion of time has elapsed? This curious 
machine is filled with a complication of movements, very 
unfit to be regulated by the rough hand of ignorance, which 
sometimes leaves a mark not to be obliterated even by 
the hand of an artist. If the works are directed by 
violence destruction is not far off. If we load it with the 
oil of luxury, it will give an additional vigour, but in the 
end, clog and impede the motion. But if the machine is 
under the influence of prudence, she will guide it with an 
even and a delicate hand, and perhaps the piece may move 
on till it is fairly worn out by a long course of fourscore 
years. 

There is a set of people who expect to find that health 
in medicine, which possibly might be found in regimen, 
air, exercise, or serenity of mind. 

There is another class among us, and that rather nume- 
rous, whose employment is laborious, and whose conduct 
is irregular. Their time is divided between hard working 
and hard drinking, and both by a fire. It is no uncommon 
thing to see one of these, at forty, wear the aspect of sixty ; 
and finish a life of violence at fifty, which the hand of 
prudence would have directed to eighty. The strength 
of a kingdom consists in the multitude of its inhabitants ; 
success in trade depends upon the manufacturer ; the 
support and direction of a family upon the head of it : 
when this useful part of mankind, therefore, is cut off in 
the active part of life, the community sustains a loss, 
whether we take the matter in a national, a commercial, 
or a private view. 

We have a third class, who shun the rock upon which 
these last fall, but wreck upon another ; they run upon 
Scylla though they have missed Charybdis ; they escape 
the liquid destruction, but split upon the solid. These 



14 HISTORY OF 

are proficients in good eating- ; adepts in culling of deli- 
cacies, and the modes of dressing them. Masters of the 
whole art of cookery, each carries a kitchen in his head. 
Thus an excellent constitution may be stabbed by the spit. 
Nature never designed us to live well, and continue well — 
the stomach is too weak a vessel to be richly and deeply 
laden. Perhaps more injury is done by eating than by 
drinking, one is a secret, the other an open enemy ; the 
secret is always supposed the most dangerous. Drinking 
attacks by assault, eating by sap ; luxury is seldom visited 
by old age. The best antidote yet discovered against this 
kind of slow poison, is exercise ; but the advantages of 
elevation, air, and water, on one hand, and disadvantages 
of crowd, smoke, and effluvia on the other, are trifles com- 
pared to intemperance. 

We have a fourth class, and with these I shall return 
and shut up the clock. If this valuable machine comes 
finished from the hand of nature ; if the rough blasts of 
fortune only attack the outward case, without affecting the 
internal works, and if reason conducts the piece, it may 
move on with a calm, steady, and uninterrupted pace, to a 
great extent of years, till time only annihilates the motion. 

I personally know among us a Mrs. Dallaway, aged near 
ninety ; George Davis, eighty-five ; John Baddally, Esq. , 
and his two brothers, all between eighty and ninety ; Mrs. 
Allen, eighty-eight; Mrs. Silk, eighty-four; John Bur- 
bury, eighty -four ; Thomas Rutter, eighty-eight; Elizabeth 
Bentley, eighty-eight ; John Harrison and his wife, one 
eighty-six, the other eighty-eight ; Mrs. Floyd, eighty- 
seven ; Elizabeth Simms, eighty-eight ; Sarah Aston, 
ninety-eight; Abraham Spooner, Esq., eighty-nine; Jo- 
seph Scott, Esq., ninety-four ; all at this day, January 9, 
1780, I believe enjoy health and capacity. This is not 
designed as a complete list of the aged, but of such only 
as immediately occur to memory. T also knew a John 



BIRMINGHAM. 15 

England^ who died at the age of eighty-nine ; Hugh 
Vincent, ninety -four ; John Pitt, one hundred ; George 
Bridgens, one hundred and three ; Mrs. More, one hun- 
dred and four. An old fellow assured me he had kept 
the market seventy-seven years : he kept it for several 
years after to my knowledge. At ninety he was attacked 
by an acute disorder, but, fortunately for himself, being 
too poor to purchase medical assistance, he was left to 
the care of nature, who opened that door to health which 
the physician would have locked for ever. At one hun- 
dred and six I heard him swear with all the fervency of a 
recruit — at one hundred and seven he died. To these 
we may add our author, (Mr. Hutton,) who breathed the 
air of Birmingham, seventy-four years, from 1741 to 
1815, when he died at the age of ninety-two. It is easy 
to give instances of people who have breathed the smoke 
of Birmingham threescore years, and yet have scarcely 
quitted the precincts of .youth. Such are the happy effects 
of constitution, temper, and conduct ! 



ANCIENT STATE OF BIRMINGHAM. 



We have now to pass through the very remote ages of 
time. The way is long, dark, and slippery. The credit 
of an historian is built upon truth ; he cannot assert, 
without giving his facts ; he cannot surmise, without giving- 
his reasons ; he must relate things as they are, not as he 
would have them. The fabric founded in error will moulder 
of itself, but that founded in reality will stand the age and 
the critic. § 

Except half a dozen pages in Dugdale, I know of no 
author who has professedly treated of Birmingham. None 
of the histories which I have seen, bestow upon it more 
than a few lines, in which we are sure to be treated with 
the noise of hammers and anvils ; as if the historian 
thought us a race of dealers in thunder, lightning, and 
wind ; or infernals, puffing- in blast and smoke. 

Suffer me to transcribe a passag-e from Leland, one of 
our most celebrated writers, employed by Henry the VIII. 
to form an Itinerary of Britain, whose works have stood 
the test of two hundred and fifty years. We shall observe 
how little he must have been qualified to write the history 
of a place with only riding through it, one would think 
his horse nearly as well qualified as himself; how much 
he erred for want of information, and how natural for 
his successors to copy him. 

" I came through a pretty street as ever I entered, into 



HISTORY OF BIRMINGHAM. 17 

Birmingham town. This street, as T remember is called 
Dirtey, (Deritend). In it dwells smithes and cutlers, 
and there is a brook that divides this street from Bir- 
mingham, an hamlet or member, belonging to the parish 
therebye. There is at the end. of Dirtey a propper 
chappel, and mansion-house of tymber (the moat) hard on 
the ripe (bank) as the brook runneth down ; and as I 
went through the ford, by the bridge, the water came 
down on the right hand, and a few miles below goeth into 
Tame. This brook, above Dirtey, breaketh in two arms, 
that a little beneath the bridge close again. This brook 
riseth, as some say, four or five miles above Birmingham, 
towards Black -hills. 

" The beauty of Birmingham, a good market-town in 
the extreme parts of Warwickshire, is one street going up 
alonge, almost from the left ripe of the brook, up a meane 
hill, by the length of a quarter of a mile. I saw but one 
parish church in the town. 

"There be many smithes in the town that use to 
make knives and all manner of cutting tools, and many 
loriners that make bittes, and a great many naylors ; 
so that a great part of the town is maintained by 
smithes, who have their iron and sea-coal out of Stafford- 
shire." 

Here we find some intelligence, and more mistake, 
clothed in the dress of antique diction, which plainly 
evinces the necessity of modern history. 

It is matter of surprise, that none of those religious 
drones, the monks, who hived in the priory for fifteen or 
twenty generations, ever thought of indulging posterity 
with an history of Birmingham. They could not want 
opportunity, for they lived a life of indolence ; nor mate- 
rials, for they were nearer the infancy of time, and were 
possessed of historical facts now totally lost. Besides, 
nearly all the little learning in the kingdom was possessed 



IS 



HISTORY OF 



by this class of people ; and the place, in their day, must 
have enjoyed an eminent degree of prosperity. 

Though the town has a modern appearance, there is 
reason to believe it of great antiquity ; my Birmingham 
reader, therefore, must suffer me to carry him back into 
the remote ages of the ancient Britons, to visit his sable 
ancestors. 

We have no histories of those times but what are left 
us by the Romans, and these we ought to read with 
caution, because they were parties in the dispute. If two 
antagonists write each his own history, the discerning 
reader will draw the line of justice between them ; but 
where there is only one, partiality is expected. The 
Romans were obliged to make the Britons warlike, or 
there would have been no merit in conquering them ; they 
must also sound forth their ignorance, or there would 
have been none in improving them. If the Britons were 
that wretched people they are represented by the Romans, 
they could not be worth conquering ; no man subdues a 
a people to improve them, but to profit by them. Though 
the Romans were in their meridian of splendour, they 
pursued Britain a whole century before they reduced it, 
which indicates that they considered it a valuable prize. 
Though the Britons were not masters of science, like the 
Romans, though the fine arts did not flourish as in Rome, 
because never planted, yet by many testimonies it is 
evident, they were masters of plain life ; that many of the 
simple arts were practised in that day, as well as in this ; 
that assemblages of people composed cities, the same as 
now, but in an inferior degree ; and that the country was 
populous, is plain from the immense army Boadicia 
brought into the field, except the Romans increased that 
army, that their merit might be greater in defeating it. 
Nay, I believe we may with propriety carry them beyond 
plain life, and charge them with a degree of elegance ; the 



BIRMINGHAM. 19 

Romans themselves allow the Britons were complete 
masters of the chariot ; that when the scythe was fixed 
at each end of. the axle-tree, they drove with great dex- 
terity into the midst of the enemy, broke their ranks, and 
mowed them down. The chariot probably was not made 
altogether for war, but when the scythes were removed, 
it remained an emblem of pride, became useful in peace, 
was a badge of high life, and continues so icith their 
descendants to this day. 

We know the instruments of war used by the Britons 
were a sword, spear, shield, and scythe. If they were not 
the manufacturers, how came they by these instruments ? 
We cannot allow either they or the chariots were imported, 
because that will give them a much greater consequence. 
They must have been well acquainted with the tools used 
in husbandry, for they were masters of the field in a 
double sense. Bad also as their houses were, a chest of 
carpentry tools would be necessary to complete them. We 
cannot doubt from these evidences, and others which might 
be adduced, that the Britons understood the manufactory 
of iron. Perhaps history cannot produce an instance of 
any place in an improving country, like England, where 
the coarse manufactory of iron has been carried on, that 
ever that laborious art went to decay, except the materials 
failed; and as we know of no place where such materials 
have failed, there is the utmost reason to believe, our fore- 
fathers, the Britons, were supplied with those necessary 
implements by the black artists of the Birmingham forge. 
Iron-stone and coal are the materials for this production, 
both which are found in the neighbourhood in great plenty. 
[Plot, in his Natural History of Staffordshire, hints that 
a decline had taken place in his day in the iron manufac- 
ture ; and that the diminution of the woods was the cause. 
From which it also appears that wood was almost exclu- 
sively used in the smelting of iron ore. previously to the 



20 IIISTOKY" OF 

seventeenth century, for we find a patent granted to one 
Dud Dudley, in 1622, for the purpose of making iron with 
coke, instead of charcoal. This will sufficiently explain 
why the woods have ceased to exist. See p. 32.] 

The two following circumstances strongly evince this 
ancient British manufactory. 

Upon the borders of the parish stands Aston furnace, 
appropriated for melting- iron-stone, and reducing it into 
pigs ; this has the appearance of great antiquity. From 
the melted ore, in this subterranean region of infernal 
aspect, is produced a calx or cinder, of which there is an 
enormous mountain. A few years ago a jeweller cut and 
polished some cinders from this place, and set them in 
rings, brooches, and other articles of jewellery, as frag- 
ments of Pompey's pillar : much money was made before 
the fraud was discovered. From an attentive survey, the 
observer would suppose so prodigious a heap could not 
accumulate in one hundred generations ; however, it shews 
no perceptible addition in the age of man. This place is 
now changed into a paper manufactory. 

There is also a common of vast extent, called Wednes- 
bury Old Field, seven miles from Birmingham, in which 
are the vestiges of many hundreds of coal-pits, long in 
disuse, which the curious antiquarian would deem as long 
in sinking, as the mountain of cinders in rising. 

The minute sprig of Birmingham, no doubt first took 
root in this black soil, which, in a succession of ages, has 
grown to its present opulence. At what time this prospe- 
rous plant was set, is very uncertain, perhaps as long 
before the days of Caesar, as it is since. Thus the mines 
of Wednesbury empty their riches into the lap of Bir- 
mingham, and thus she draws nurture from the bowels of 
the earth. 

The chief, if not the only manufactory of Birmingham, 
from its first existence to the restoration of Charles II. 



BIRMINGHAM. 21 

was in iron : of this was produced instruments of war and 
of husbandry, furniture for the kitchen, and tools for the 
whole system of carpentry. 

The places where our athletic ancestors performed these 
curious productions of art, were in the shops fronting the 
street. Some small remains of this very ancient custom 
were visible, chiefly in Digbeth, till within the last twenty 
years, where about a dozen shops still exhibited the 
original music of anvil and hammer. These ancient 
forges have now all retreated, as modern improvements 
have advanced. 

As there is the highest probability that Birmingham 
produced her manufactures long before the landing of 
Caesar, it would give pleasure to the curious inquirer, 
could he be informed of her size in these very early ages ; 
but this information is for ever hid from the historian 
and the reader. Perhaps there never was a period in 
in which she saw a decline, but that her progress has been 
certain, though slow, during the long space of two or three 
thousand years before Charles II. 

The very roads that proceed from Birmingham, are 
additional indications of her great antiquity and commer- 
cial influence. Where any of these roads lead up an 
eminence, they were worn by the long practice of ages 
into deep holloways, some of them twelve or fourteen yards 
below the surface of the banks, with which they were once 
even, and so narrow as to admit only one passenger. 

Though modern industry, assisted by various turnpike 
acts, has widened the upper part, and filled up the lower, 
yet they were all visible in the days of our fathers, and are 
traceable even in ours. Some of these, no doubt, were 
formed by the spade, to soften the fatigue of climbing the 
hill, but many were owing to the pure efforts of time, the 
horse, and the showers. As inland trade was small prior 
to the fifteenth century, the use of the waggon, that great 



22 HISTORY OF 

destroyer of the road, was but little known. The horse 
was the chief conveyor of burden among the Britons, and 
for centuries after ; if we, therefore, consider the great 
length of time it would take for the rains to form these 
deep ravages, we must place the origin of Birmingham at 
a very early date. 

One of these subterranean passages, in part filled up, 
will convey its name to posterity in that of a street, 
called Holloway Head, till lately, the way to Bromsgrove 
and to Bewdley. Dale End, once a deep road, has the 
same derivation. Another at Summer Hill, in the Dudley 
Road, altered in 1753. A remarkable one is also between 
the Salutation and the turnpike, in the Wolverhampton 
Road. A fifth at the top of Walmer Lane, changed into 
its present form in 1764. Another between Gosta Green 
and Aston Brook, reduced in 1752. All the way from 
Dale End to Duddeston, of which Coleshill Street no\* 
makes a part, and Mile End another, was sunk five or six 
feet, though nearly upon a fiat, till filled in 1756 by act of 
parliament ; but the most singular is that between Deri- 
tend and Camp Hill, in the way to Stratford, which was 
fifty-eight feet deep, and is, even now, many yards below 
the banks ; yet the seniors of the last age took a pleasure 
in telling us, they could remember when it would have 
buried a waggon load of hay beneath its present surface. 
Thus the traveller of old, who came to purchase the 
produce of Birmingham, or to sell his own, seemed to 
approach her by sap. 

British traces are, no doubt, discoverable in the Old 
Dudley Road, down Easy Hill, under the canal ; at the 
eight milestone, and at Smethwick ; also in many of the 
private roads near Birmingham, which were never thought 
to merit a repair, particularly at Good Knavesend, towards 
Harborne; the Green Lane, leading to the Garrison; and 
that beyond Long Bridge, in the road to Yardley ; all of 



BIRMINGHAM. 23 

them deep holloways, which carry evident tokens of 
antiquity. Let the curious calculator determine what an 
amazing length of time would elapse in wearing the deep 
roads along Saltley Field, Shaw Hill, Allum Rock, and 
the remainder of the way to Stitchford, only, a pitiful 
hamlet of a dozen houses. 

The ancient centre of Birmingham seems to have been 
the Old Cross, from the number of streets pointing 
towards it. Wherever the narrow end of a street enters a 
great thoroughfare, it indicates antiquity ; this is the case 
with Philip Street, Bell Street, Spiceal Street, Park 
Street, and Moor Street, which not only incline to the 
centre abovementioned, but terminate with their narrow 
ends into the grand passage. These streets are confined 
at the entrance, and widen as they proceed. The narrow 
ends were formed with the main street at first, and were 
not intended for streets themselves. As the town in- 
creased, other blunders of the same kind were committed, 
witness the gateway late at the east-end of New Street, 
the two ends of Worcester Street, Smallbroke Street, 
Cannon Street, New Meeting- Street, and Bull Street. 
It is easy to see which end of a street was formed first : 
perhaps the south end of Moor Street is two thousand 
years older than the north ; the same errors are com- 
mitting in our day, as in Hill and Vale Streets, the two 
Hinkleys ; and Stafford Street, a great thoroughfare, and 
the principal road leading to the north of England, re- 
mained the narrowest carriage road in Birmingham, till 
1831, when it was widened to the end of Tanter Street, 
by removing the buildings on both sides of the street. 
One generation, for want of foresight, forms a narrow en- 
trance, and another widens it by act of parliament. 

Every word in the English language carries an idea. 
When a word strikes the ear, the mind immediately forms 
a picture, which represents it as faithfully as the looking- 



24 history or 

glass does the face. Thus, when the word Birmingham 
occurs, a superb picture instantly expands in the mind, 
which is best explained by the other words grand, popu- 
lous, extensive, active, commercial, and humane. This 
painting is an exact counterpart of the word at this day ; 
but it does not correspond with its appearance, in the days 
of the ancient Britons — we must, therefore, for a moment, 
detach the idea from the word. 

Let us suppose, then, this centre surrounded with less 
than one hundred straggling huts, without order, which 
we will dignify with the name of houses, built of timber, 
the interstices wattled with sticks, and plaistered with 
mud, covered with thatch, boards or sods, none of them 
higher than the ground story. The meaner sort only one 
room, which served for three uses, shop, kitchen, and 
lodging-room ; the door for two, it admitted the people 
and the lig-rit. The better sort two rooms, and some 
three, for work, for the kitchen, and for rest ; all three in 
a line, and sometimes fronting the street. 

If the curious reader chooses to see a picture of Bir- 
mingham, in the time of the Britons, he will find one in the 
turnpike road, between Hales Owen and Stourbridge, 
called the Lie Waste, alias Mud City. The houses stand 
in every direction, composed of one large and ill-formed 
brick, scoped into a tenement, burnt by the sun, and often 
destroyed by the frost. The males naked, the females ac- 
complished breeders. The children at the age of three 
months, take a singular hue from the sun and the soil, 
which continues for life. The rags which cover them 
leave no room for the observer to guess at the sex. Only 
one person upon the premises presumes to carry a belly, 
and he a landlord. We might as well look for the moon 
in a coalpit, as for stays or white linen in the City of 
Mud. The principal tool in business is the hammer, and 
the beast of burden the ass. 



BIRMINGHAM. 25 

The extent of our little colony of artists, perhaps 
reached nearly as high as the east-end of New Street, 
occupied the upper part of Spiceal Street, and penetrated 
down the hill to the top of Digbeth, chiefly on the east. 

Success, which ever waits on industry, produced a 
gradual but very slow increase ; perhaps a thousand years 
elapsed without adding half that number of houses. 

Thus our favourite plantation having taken such fir m 
root, that she was able to stand the wintry blasts of 
fortune, we shall digress for a moment, while she wields 
her sparkling - heat, according to the fashion of the day, in 
executing the orders of the sturdy Briton, then of the 
polite and heroic Roman, afterwards of our mild ancestors, 
the Saxons. Whether she raised her hammer for the 
plundering Dane is uncertain, his reign being short, and 
lastly, for the resolute and surly Norman. 

It does not appear that Birmingham, from its first 
formation, to the present day, was ever the habitation of a 
gentleman, the lords of the manor excepted. But if there 
are no originals among us, we can produce many striking 
likenesses : The smoke of Birmingham has been very 
propitious to their growth, but not to their maturity. 
Gentlemen, as well as buttons, have been stamped here ; 
but, like them, when finished, are moved off. They both 
originate from a very uncouth state, without form or 
comeliness ; and pass through various stages, uncertain of 
success. Some of them, at length, receive the last polish, 
and arrive at perfection, while others, ruined by a flaw, 
are deemed wasters. I have known the man of opulence 
direct his gilt chariot out of Birmingham, who first ap- 
proached her an helpless orphan in rags. I have known 
the chief magistrate of fifty thousand people, fall from his 
phaeton, and humbly ask bread at a parish vestry. Fre- 
quently the wheel of capricious fortune describes a circle, 
in the rotation of which a family experiences, alternately, 



26 HISTORY OF 

the height of prosperity and the depth of distress ; but 
more frequency, like a pendulum, it describes only the ark 
of a circle, and that always at the bottom. 

Many fine estates have been struck out of the anvil, 
valuable possessions raised by the tongs, and superb 
houses, in a two-fold sense, erected by the trowel. The 
paternal ancestor of the late Sir Charles Holte was a 
native of this place, and purchaser, in the beginning of 
Edward the Third, of the several manors which have been 
the honour and the support of his house to the present 
time. Walter Clodshale was another native of Birming- 
ham, who in 1332, purchased the manor of Saltley, now 
enjoyed by his maternal descendant, Charles Bowyer 
Adderley, Esq. Charles Colmore, Esq. holds a consider- 
able estate in the parish ; his predecessor is said to have 
occupied, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, ^hat house, 
now No. 1, in the High Street, as a mercer, and general 
receiver of the taxes. A numerous branch of this ancient 
family flourishes in Birmingham at this day. The head 
of it, in the reign of James I. erected New Hall, and 
himself into a gentleman. On this desirable eminence, 
about half a mile from the buildings, they resided till time, 
fashion, and success removed them, like their predeces- 
sors, the sons of fortune, to a greater distance. The place 
was then possessed by a tenant, as a farm, but Birming- 
ham, a speedy traveller, marched over the premises, and co- 
vered them with twelve hundred houses, on building leases ; 
the farmer was converted into a steward ; his brown hempen 
frock, which guarded the outside of his waistcoat, became 
white holland, edged with ruffles, and took its station 
loithin. The pitchfork was metamorphosed into a pen, 
and his ancient practice of breeding up sheep, was changed 
into that of dressing their skins. Robert Philips, Esq. 
acquired a valuable property in the seventeenth century, 
now possessed by his descendant, William Theodore Inge, 



BIRMINGHAM. b 27 

Esq. A gentleman of the name of Foxall, assured me, 
that the head of his family resided upon the spot, now 
No. 101, in Digbeth, about four hundred years ago, in 
the capacity of a tanner. Richard Smallbroke, Bishop of 
Lichfield and Coventry, in the reign of George II. was a 
native of Birmingham, as his ancestors were for many 
ages, with reputation. He was born at No. 19, in the 
High Street, had great property in the town, now enjoyed 
by his descendants, though they have left the place. The 
families also of Weaman, Jennens, Whalley, &c. have 
acquired vast property, and quitted the meridian of Bir- 
mingham ; and some others are at this day ripe for 
removal. Let me close this bright scene of prosperity, 
and open another, which can only be viewed with a 
melancholy eye. We cannot behold the distresses of man 
without compassion ; but that distress which follows 
affluence, comes with double effect. 

We have among us a family of the name of Middlemore, 
of great antiquity, deducible from the conquest ; who held 
the chief possessions, and the chief offices in the county, 
and who matched into the first families in the kingdom, 
but fell with the interest of Charles the First ; and are 
now in that low ebb of fortune, that I have frequently, 
with a gloomy pleasure, relieved them at the common 
charity board of the town. Such is the tottering point of 
human greatness. Another of the name of Bracebridge, 
who, for more than six hundred years, figured in the 
first ranks of life. A third of the name of Mountfort, who 
shone with meridian splendour, through a long train of 
ages. As genealogy was ever a favourite amusement, I 
have often conversed with these solitary remains of tar- 
nished lustre, but find in all of them, the pride of their 
family buried with its greatness — they pay no more atten- 
tion to the arms of their ancestors, than to a scrap of 
paper, with which they would light their pipe. Upon 



28 HISTORY OF 

consulting one of the name of Elwall, said to be descended 
from the Britons, I found him so amazingly defective, 
that he could not stretch his pedigree even so high as his 
grandfather. A fifth family among us, of the name of 
Arden, stood upon the pinnacle of fame in the days of 
Alfred the Great, where, perhaps they had stood for ages 
before. They continued the elevation about seven hun- 
dred years after, but having treasonable charges brought 
against them, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, about two 
hundred years ago, they were thrown from this exalted 
eminence, and dashed to pieces in the fall. In various 
consultations with a member of this honourable house, I 
found the greatness of his family not only lost, but the 
memory of it also. I assured him, that his family stood 
higher in the scale of honour, than any private one within 
my knowledge; that his paternal ancestors, for about seven 
generations, were successively Earls of Warwick, before 
the Norman conquest. That, though he could not boast 
a descent from the famous Guy, he was related to him, 
and still bore his arms, with a small difference. That, 
though Turchell, Earl of Warwick, at the conquest, his 
direct ancestor, lost the Earldom in the favour of Roger 
Newburgh, a favourite of William's ; yet, as the Earl did 
not appear in arms, against the Conqueror, at the battle 
of Hasting, nor oppose the new interest, he was allowed to 
keep forty-six of his manors ; and that he retired upon his 
own vast estate, which he held in dependence, where the 
family resided with great opulence, in one house, for many 
centuries. He received the information with some degree 
of amazement, and replied with a serious face^ — " Perhaps 
there may have been something great in my predecessors, 
for my grandfather kept several cows in Birmingham, and 
sold milk !" 

The families of those ancient heroes, of Saxon and 
Norman race, are chiefly by the mutations of time, and 



BIRMINGHAM. 29 

of state, either become extinct, or as above, reduced to 
the lowest verge of fortune. Those few, therefore, whose 
descent is traceable, may be carried higher than that of 
the present nobility ; for I know none of these last, who 
claim peerage beyond Edward the First, about 1295. 
Hence it follows, that for antiquity, alliance, and blood, 
the advantage is evidently in favour of the lowest class. 

Could one of those illustrious shades return to the 
earth and inspect human actions, he might behold one of 
his descendants dancing at the lathe ; another, tippling 
with his dark brethren of the apron ; a third, humbly 
soliciting" from other families, such favours as were formerly 
granted by his own ; a fourth, imitating modern grandeur, 
by contracting debts he never designs to pay; and a 
fifth, snuff of departed light, poaching, like a thief in 
the night, upon the very manors possessed by his an- 
cestors. 

Whence is it that title, pedigree, and alliance, in supe- 
rior life, are esteemed of the highest value, while in the 
inferior, who have a prior claim, are totally neglected? 
The grand design of every creature upon earth, is to 
supply the wants of nature. No amusements of body or 
mind can be adopted, till hunger is served. When the 
appetite calls, the whole attention of the animal, with all 
its powers, is bound to answer. Hence arise those dread- 
ful contests in the brute creation, from the lion in the 
woods^ to the dog who seizes the bone. Hence the ship, 
when her provisions are spent, and she becalmed, casts a 
savage eye upon human sacrifices ; and hence, the atten- 
tion of the lower ranks of men, is too far engrossed for 
mental pursuit. They see, like Esau, the honours of their 
family devoured with a ravenous appetite. A man with 
an empty cupboard would make but a wretched philoso- 
pher. But if fortune should smile upon one of the lower 
race, raise him a step above his original standing, and 



30 HISTORY OF 

give him a prospect of independence, he immediately 
begins to eye the arms upon carriages, examines old 
records for his name, and inquires where the Herald's 
Office is kept. Thus, when the urgency of nature is set 
at liberty, the bird can whistle upon the branch, the fish 
play upon the surface, the goat skip upon the moun- 
tain, and even man himself, can bask in the sunshine of 
science. 

We have several families, as the Colmores, the Clarkes, 
the Mays, the Smallwoods, the Bedfords, through whose 
veins flow the blood-royal of England, with that of most of 
the European princes. For these families being- descended 
from the Willoughbies, and they from the Mermions, 
whose daughter married Richard, bastard son of King 
John, brings up our laboured pedigree to a sceptre and a 
crown. From thence, as by a spacious turnpike road, we 
easily travel through the great names of antiquity, as 
William the Conqueror, Edmund Ironside, the accomplished 
Alfred, the powerful Egbert, the beloved Cerdie, till we 
arrive at the Saxon Deity Woden, whence our Wednesday. 
I digress no farther. 

The situation of St. Martin's church is another reason 
for fixing the original centre of Birmingham at the Old 
Cross. Christianity made an early and a swift progress 
in this kingdom ; persecution, as might be expected, 
followed her footsteps, increased her votaries, and, as was 
ever the case, in all new religions, her proselytes were 
very devout. The religious fervour of the christians dis- 
played itself in building churches. Most of those in 
England are of Saxon original, and were erected between 
the fourth and the tenth century ; that of St. Martin's is 
ancient beyond the reach of historical knowledge, and 
probably rose in the early reigns of the Saxon kings. 

It was the custom of those times, to place the church, 
if I here was bid one, out of the precincts of the town, 



BIRMINGHAM. 31 

this is visible at the present day in those places which 
have received no increase. 

Perhaps it will not be an unreasonable supposition to 
fix the erection of St. Martin's in the eighth century, and 
if the inquisitive reader chooses to traverse the town a 
second time, he may find its boundaries something like 
the following-. We cannot allow its extension northward 
beyond the east end of New Street, that it included the 
narrow parts of Philip Street, Bell Street, Spiceal Street, 
Moor Street, and Park Street. That the houses at this 
period were more compact than heretofore ; that Digbeth 
and Deritend, lying in the road to Stratford, Warwick, 
and Coventry, all places of antiquity, were now formed. 
Thus the church stood in the environs of the town, unin- 
cumbered with buildings. Possibly this famous nursery of 
arts might, by this time, produce six hundred houses. A 
town must increase before its appendages are formed, 
those appendages also must increase before there is a 
necessity for an additional chapel, and after that increase, 
the inhabitants may wait long before that necessity is 
removed, by building one. Deritend is an appendage to 
Birmingham, the inhabitants of this hamlet having long 
laboured under the inconveniency of being remote from 
the parish church of Aston, and, too numerous for ad- 
mission into that of Birmingham, procured a grant in 
1381 to erect a chapel of their own. If we, therefore, 
allow three hundred years for the infancy of Deritend, 
three hundred more for her maturity, and four hundred 
since the erection of her chapel, which is a very rea- 
sonable allowance ; it will bring us to the time I men- 
tioned. 

It does not appear that Deritend was attended with 
any considerable augmentation, from the Norman Con- 
quest to 1 the year 1767, when a turnpike road was opened 
to Alcester, and when Henry Bradford publicly offered a 



32 HISTORY OF 

freehold to the man who should first build upon his estate; 
since which time, Deritend, only one street, has made 
a rapid progress ; and this dusky offspring of Birming- 
ham is now travelling- apace along her new formed 
road. 

I must again recline upon Dugdale. In 1309, William 
de Birmingham, lord of the manor, took a distress of 
the inhabitants of Bromsgrove and King's Norton, for 
refusing to pay the customary tolls of the market. The 
inhabitants, therefore, brought their action and recovered 
damage, because it is said, their lands being the ancient 
demesne of the crown, they had a right to sell their 
produce in any market in the King's dominions. It 
appeared in the course of the trial, that the ancestors of 
William de Birmingham had a market here before the 
Norman Conquest ! I shall have occasion, in future, to 
resume this remakable expression. T have also met with 
an old author, who observes, that Birmingham was 
governed by two constables in the time of the Saxons, 
small places have seldom more than one. These evi- 
dences prove much in favour of the government, popula- 
tion, and antiquity of the place. 

In Domesday-book it is rated at four hides of land. A 
hide was as much as a team could conveniently plough in 
a year, perhaps about fifty acres. I think there are not 
now more than two hundred ploughed in the parish. It 
was also said to contain woods of half a mile in length, 
and four furlongs in breadth. What difference subsisted 
between half a mile and four furlongs, in ancient time, is 
uncertain, we know of none now. The mile was reduced 
to its present standard in the reign of Queen Elizabeth : 
neither are there the least traces of those woods, for at 
this day it is difficult to find a stick that deserves the 
name of a tree, in the whole manor. Timber is no part 
of the manufactory of Birmingham. 



BIRMINGHAM. 0.5 

Let us survey the town a third time, as we may rea- 
sonably suppose it stood in the most remarkable period of 
English history, that of the conquest. 

We cannot yet go farther north of the centre than 
before, that is, along the High Street, till we meet the 
east end of New Street. We shall penetrate rather 
farther into Moor Street, none into Park Street, take in 
Digbeth, Deritend, and Edgbaston Street, as being- the 
road to Dudley, Bromsgrove, and the whole West of 
England ; Spiceal Street, the Shambles, a larger part of 
Bell Street, and Philip Street. 

The ancient increase of the town was towards the south, 
because of the great road, the conveniency of water, the 
church, and the manor-house, all which lay in that quarter ; 
but the modern extension was chiefly towards the north, 
owing to the scions of her trades being transplanted all 
over the country as far as Wednesbury, Walsall, and 
Wolverhampton. But particularly her vicinity to the coal 
delphs, which were ever considered as the soul of her 
prosperity. Perhaps by this time the number of houses 
might have been augmented to seven hundred : but what- 
ever were her number, either in this or any other period, 
we cannot doubt her being populous in every era of her 
existence. 

The following small extract from the register, will shew 
a gradual increase, even before the restoration : 



Year. 


Christenings. 


Weddings. 


Burials, 


1555 


37 


15 


27 


1558 


48 


10 


47 


1603 


65 


14 


40 


1625 


76 


18 


47 



1660 76 from April to Dec. inclusive. 

In 1251, William de Birmingham, lord of the manor, 
procured an additional charter from Henry the III., in the 



34 HISTORY OF 

thirty-fifth year of his reign, reviving some decayed privi- 
leges, and granting others ; among the last was that of the 
Witsuntide Fair, to begin on the eve of Holy Thursday, 
and to continue four days. At the alteration of the style, 
in 1752, it was prudently changed to the Thursday in 
Whitsun week ; that less time might be lost to the injury 
of work and the workman. He also procured another fair, 
to begin on the eve of St. Michael, and continue for three 
days. Both which fairs are at this day in great repute. 
In a work published in 1830, Mr. Hutton is charged with 
originating an error respecting the dates of the charters 
for these fairs, but without the slightest foundation ; in all 
the editions of this work, the dates are as given above, 
agreeing both with Dugdale and the work above named. 

By the interest of Audomore de Valance, Earl of Pem- 
broke, a licence was obtained from the crown, in 1319, to 
charge an additional toll upon every article sold in the 
market for three years, towards paving the town. Every 
quarter of corn to pay one farthing, and other tilings in 
proportion. But at the expiration of the term, the toll 
was found inadequate to the expense, and the work lay 
dormant for eighteen years, till 1337, when a second 
licence was obtained, equal to the first, which completed 
the intention. 

Those streets thus dignified with a pavement, or rather 
their sides, to accommodate the foot passenger, probably 
were High Street, the Bull Ring, Corn Cheaping, Digbeth, 
St. Martin's Lane, Moat Lane, Edgbaston Street, Spiceal 
Street, and part of Moor Street. It was the practice, in 
those early days, to leave the centre of a street unpaved, 
for the easier passage of carriages and horses ; the con- 
sequence was, in flat streets the road became extremely 
dirty, almost impassable, and in a descent, the soil was 
quickly worn away, and left a causeway on each side. Many 
instances of this ancient practice are within memory. 



BIRMINGHAM. 



35 



The streets, no doubt, in which the fairs were held, 
mark the boundaries of the town in the thirteenth century. 
Though smaller wares were sold upon the spot used for the 
market, the rougher articles, such as cattle, were exposed 
to sale in what were then the out-streets. The fair for 
horses was held in Edgbaston Street, and that for beasts 
in the High Street, tending towards the Welch Cross. — 
Inconvenient as these streets seem for the purpose, our 
dark ancestors, of peaceable memory, found no detriment, 
during the infant state of population, in keeping them 
there. But we, their crowded sons, for want of accomoda- 
tion, have wisely removed both ; the horse fair, in 1777, 
to Brick-kiln Lane, now the extreme part of the town ; 
and that for beasts, in 1769, into the open part of Dale 
End. Whatever veneration we may entertain for ancient 
custom, there is sometimes a necessity to break it. Were 
we now to solicit the crown for a fair, those streets would 
be the last we should fix on. 

If we survey Birmingham in the twelfth century, we 
shall find her crowded with timber, within and without ; 
her streets dirty and narrow, but much trodden. The 
inhabitant became an early encroacher upon her narrow 
streets, and sometimes the lord was the greatest. Her 
houses were mean and low, but few reaching- higher than 
one story, perhaps none more than two ; composed of 
wood and plaister — she was a stranger to brick. Her 
public buildings consisted solely of one, the church. If we 
behold her in the fourteenth century, we shall observe her 
private buildings multiplied more than improved ; her 
narrow streets, by trespass, become narrower ; her public 
buildings increased to four, two in the town and two at 
a distance, the Priory, of stone, founded by contribution, 
at the head of which stood her lord ; the Guild, of timber, 
now the Free School ; and Deritend Chapel, of the same 
materials, resembling a barn, with something like an 



36 HISTORY OF BIRMINGHAM. 

awkward dove-cot, at the west end, by way of steeple. 
All these will be noticed in due course. If we take a view 
of the inhabitants, we shall find them industrious, plain, 
and honest. In curious operations, known only to a few, 
the artist was amply paid. Nash, in his History of 
Worcestershire, gives us a curious list of anecdotes, from 
the churchwardens' ledger, of Hales-Owen. I shall tran- 
scribe two, nearly three hundred years old. " Paid for 
bread and ale, to make my Lord Abbot drink, in Rogation 
iveek, 2d." What should we now think of an ecclesiastical 
nobleman, accepting a two-penny treat from a country 
churchwarden ? — This displays an instance of moderation 
in a class of people famous for luxury. It shows also the 
amazing reduction of money : the same sum which served 
my Lord Abbot four days, would now be devoured by 
a journeyman in four minutes. — " 1498, paid for repeyling 
the organs, to the organ-maker at Bromicham, 10s." Bir- 
mingham then, we find discovered the powers of genius in 
the finer arts, as well as in iron. By " the organ-maker," 
we should suppose there was but one. It appears that the 
art of acquiring riches was as well understood by our 
fathers, as by us ; while an artist could receive as much 
money for tuning an organ, as would purchase an acre of 
land, or treat near half a gross of Lord Abbots. 



BATTLE OF CAMP HILL, 1643. 



Clarendon, in his History of the Rebellion, reproaches 
with virulence, our spirited ancestors for disloyalty to 
Charles the I. The day after the king left Birmingham, on 
his march from Shrewsbury, in October, 1642, a few days 
before the first battle between the king and parliament, 
which was fought at Edge Hill, on the 23rd of that month, 
they seized his carriages, containing- the royal plate and 
furniture, which they conveyed for security to Warwick 
Castle. They apprehended all messengers and suspected 
persons ; frequently attacked and reduced small parties of 
the royalists, whom they sent prisoners to Coventry. Hence 
the proverbial expression to a refractory person, Send him 
to Coventry. 

Clarendon thus describes the conduct and character of 
the people of Birmingham : " There was not the least 
violence or disorder among the common soldiers in their 
march, which 'scaped exemplary punishment, so that at 
Bromicham, a town so generally wicked, that it had risen 
upon small parties of the king's, and killed or taken them 
prisoners, and sent them to Coventry declaring a more per- 
emptory malice to his majesty than any other place, two 
soldiers were executed for having- taken some trifle of no 
value out of a house, whose owner was at that time in the 
rebel's army." 

In the beginning of April, 1643, the king ordered Prince 



38 



HISTORY OF 



Rupert, with a detachment of one thousand two hundred 
horse, and six or seven hundred foot, to open a communi- 
cation between Oxford and York. In his march to 
Birmingham, he found a company of foot, kept for the 
parliament, lately reinforced by a troop of horse, from the 
garrison at Lichfield : but supposing they would not resist 
a power of ten to one, sent his quarter-masters to demand 
lodging-, and offer protection. But the sturdy sons of free- 
dom having cast up slight works at each end of the town, 
and barricaded the lesser avenues, rejected the offer and 
the officers. The military uniting- in one small and com- 
pact body, assisted by the inhabitants, were determined 
the king's forces should not enter. Their little fire opened 
on the prince ; but bravery itself, though possessed of an ex- 
cellent spot of ground for defence, was obliged to give way 
to numbers. The prince quickly put them to silence ; yet, 
under the success of his own arms, he was not able to enter 
the town, for the inhabitants had choked up with carriages, 
the deep and narrow road, then between Deritend and 
Camp Hill, which obliged the prince to alter his route to 
the left, and proceed towards Long Bridge. The spirit of 
resistance was not yet broken ; they sustained a second 
attack, but to no purpose except that of slaughter. A 
running fight continued through the town ; victory declared 
loudly for the prince ; the retreat became general : part of 
the vanquished took the way to Oldbury. William Field- 
ing, Earl of Denbigh, a volunteer under the prince, being 
in close pursuit of an officer in the service of the parlia- 
ment, and both upon the full gallop, up Shirland Lane, in 
the manor of Smethwick, the officer instantly turning, dis- 
charged a pistol at the earl, and mortally wounded him 
with a random shot. The parliament troops were animated 
in the engagement by a clergyman, who acted as governor, 
but being taken in the defeat, and refusing quarter, was 
killed in the Red Lion Inn. The prince provoked at the 



BIRMINGHAM. 39 

resistance, in revenge set fire to the town. His wrath is 
said to have kindled in Bull Street, and consumed several 
houses near the spot, now No. 12. He obliged the inhabi- 
tants to quench the flames with a heavy fine, to prevent 
farther military execution. Part of the fine is said to have 
been shoes and stocking's for his people. The parliament 
forces had formed their camp in that well chosen angle which 
divides the Stratford and Warwick roads upon Camp Hill.* 
The victorious prince left no garrison, because their insigni- 
ficant works were untenable ; but left an humbled people, 
and marched to the reduction of Lichfield. 

The following is transcribed from Clarendon's History 
of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, published at 
Oxford, 1707 : " At the beginning of April 1643, the 
king ordered Prince Rupert to march towards Lichfield ; 
in his way thither he was to march through Broniicham, 
a town in Warwickshire before mentioned, and of as great 
fame for hearty, wilful, affected disloyalty to the king, as 
any place in England. It is before remembered, that the 
king in his march from Shrewsbury, notwithstanding the 
eminent malignity of that people, had shewed as eminent 
compassion to them ; not giving way that they should suffer 
by the undistinguishing licence of the soldier, or by the 
severity of his own justice ; which clemency of his found 
so unequal a return, that, the next day after his remove 
thence, the inhabitants of that place seized on his carriages, 
wherein were his own plate and furniture, and conveyed 
them to Warwick Castle, and had from that time with 
unusual industry and vigilance, apprehended all messengers 
who were employed, or suspected to be so, in the king's 
service ; and though it was never made a garrison by 
direction of the parliament, being built in such a form as 

* A cannon ball, said to have been found at Camp Hill, weighing upwards 
of six pounds, and which is twelve inches in circumference, is now in the pos- 
session of the Hutton family. 



40 



HISTORY OF 



was indeed hardly capable of being fortified, yet they had 
so great a desire to distinguish themselves from the king's 
good subjects, that they cast up little slight works at both 
ends of the town, and barricaded the rest, and voluntarily 
engaged themselves not to admit any intercourse with the 
king's forces. In this posture Prince Rupert now found 
them, having in the town with them at that time a troop 
of horse, belonging to the garrison of Lichfield, which was 
grown to that strength, that it infested those parts exceed- 
ingly, and would in a short time have extended itself to a 
powerful jurisdiction. His highness hardly believing it 
possible, that when they should discover his power they 
would offer to make resistance, and being unwilling to 
receive interruption in his more important design, sent 
his quarter masters thither to take up his lodging, and to 
assure them, that if they behaved themselves peaceably, 
they should not suffer for what was past. But they had 
not confidence good enough to believe him, and absolutely 
refused to let him quarter in the town, and from their 
little works, with mettle equal to their malice, they dis- 
charged their shot upon him ; but they were quickly over- 
powered, and some parts of the town being fired, they 
were not able to contend with both enemies ; and distracted 
between both, suffered the assailants to enter without much 
loss ; who took not that vengeance upon them they deserved, 
but made them expiate their transgressions with paying a 
less mulct than might have been expected from their 
wealth, if their wickedness had been less. 

" In the entrance of this town, and in the too eager pur- 
suit of that loose troop of horse that was in it, the Earl of 
Denbigh, (who from the beginning of the war, with un- 
wearied pains and exact submission to discipline and order, 
had been a volunteer in Prince Rupert's troop, and been 
engaged with singular courage in all enterprizes of danger,) 
was unfortunately wounded with many hurts on the head 



BIRMINGHAM. 



41 



and body, and with swords and poleaxes, of which, within 
two or three days he died. 

" Had it not been for this ill accident (and to remember 
the dismal inequality of this contention, in which always 
some earl, or person of great honour or fortune fell, when 
after the most signal victory over the other side, there 
was seldom lost a man of any known family, or of other 
reputation, than of passion for the cause in which he fell,) 
I should not have mentioned an action of so little moment, 
as was this of Bromicham, which I shall enlarge with the 
remembrance of a clergyman, who was here killed at the 
entering of the town, after he had not only refused quarter, 
but provoked the soldiers by the most odious revilings 
and reproaches of the person and honour of the king that 
can be imagined, and renouncing all allegiance to him ; in 
whose pockets were found several papers of memorials of 
his own obscene and scurrilous behaviour with several 
women, in such loose expressions as modest ears cannot 
endure. This man was the principal governor and incen- 
diary of the rude people of that place against their sove- 
reign." 

Mr. Hutton was not aware of the existence of three 
tracts, published in 1643, immediately after the battle of 
Birmingham, or he would no doubt Jiave mentioned them. 
They were reprinted in 1815, for Beilby, Knott and Beilby, 
and are mentioned in the fourth edition of the History of 
Birmingham, published by Catherine Hutton, in 1819 ; and 
as they contain the most authentic information relative to 
the battle of Birmingham, we shall here insert them at 
full length, and leave our readers to judge between the 
contending parties. 



42 HISTORY OF 



A True Relation of Prince RvperVs Barbarous Cruelty 
against the Toione of Brumingham, 

To which place on Monday Apr. 3, 1643, he marcht with 2000 horse and foot. 
4 Drakes, and 2 Sakers ; where after two houres fight (being twice beaten 
off by the Townsmen, in all but 140 Musqueteers) he entered, put divers 
to the Sword, and burnt about 80 Houses to ashes, suffering no man to 
carry away his goods, or quench the fire, and making no difference between 
friend or foe ; yet by God's providence the greatest losse fell on the malig- 
nants of the Town. 

And of the Cavaliers were slaine divers chiefe Commanders, and men of great 
quality, amongst whom was the Earle of Denbigh, the Lord John Stewart : 
and as themselves report, the Lord Digby. 

London : Printed for John Wright in the Old-baity, 
April 12, 1643. 

Sir, 

Though I can write you but the same lamentation 
which I believe you have already heard, yet I cannot be 
silent to acquaint you of the truth as neere as I can ; If 
Coventrey had sent us what helpe it might, I beleeve the 
enemy durst not have assaulted us, but in regard they had 
been in danger of cutting off by the way, in case they had 
been sent, I must excuse them, though it be to our owne 
suffering-. We with the Captaines were sensible, that if 
the Cavaliers came, we were not likely to withstand them, 
they being neere 1500, and we not above 150 Musketiers, 
with a Troope of Horse of Captaine Greaves, which did 
no good but in their flight, as hereafter you will heare ; 
but in regard the generall desire of the Towne, especially 
of those that bore Armes, would have them stand it out, 
and not march away with their Armes, as we might in 
time, and that both they, and the malignant would have 
reviled, and curst the Captaines and Majestrates of the 
Towne if they had left them, made the Captaines and 
better sort content to stay and trie the issue, rather then 



BIRMINGHAM. 43 

be so perpetually reproacht. And though the same fall 
hard on our side in loosing- the Towne and some Arines, 
and about 80 Houses burnt to ashes, with all that therein 
was, and some fifteen men, and two women lost their lives, 
yet their gaine was nothing at all, yea, they count it greate 
losse and curse the time that ever they medled with us, for 
I believe they lost as many ordinary men as we, besides 
three men of great quality which they much lament, 
whereof two of them were Lords, as we have great cause 
to thinke, the one the Earle of Denby that's sure, the 
other Lord we something doubt of his name, but we heare 
by divers of the Cavaliers it is Digby, sure we are he is 
wounded ; and it is as sure that some of their Collonels say 
it was a man of greater ranke, and more considerable then 
Denby ; the other a chiefe Commander ; Denby pursued 
Captaine Greaves Troope some two Miles out of Towne 
being at their heeles, before our Troope departed, among 
whom I went away, and Captaine Greaves observing his Time 
betwixt two woods faced about, and charged the pursuers 
most valiantly as they themselves confesse, and drove them 
backe againe : in which charge Denby was slaine immedi- 
ately, and the rest fled, and so we escaped with safety ; 
onely Captaine Greaves received one shot in the face, and 
a cut in the Arme, but not mortall ; in the pursuit of that 
troope God made a way for all our souldiers, saving some 
two or three, to escape most with their armes, which they 
threw away and hid in pits and ditches as they could, whereof 
the most, I thinke, the cavaleeres found not, and not one 
Captaine or Officer was hurt or taken prisoner, nor any 
considerable man, but most poore fellowes, and malignants, 
because they could meet with no better, and all are released 
saving two of the best, though of no great quality, some 
redeemed themselves for 2d. I2d. and Sd. apiece, and 
some one or two for 20s. Prince Rubert being enraged 
that he should take never a prisoner of so great a company, 



44 



HISTORY OF 



and of those not to raise 20/. when he himselfe had under- 
gon so great a losse ; and of those that were slaine [of our 
side were most poore malignants, some three young men 
of ordinary quality that bare Armes, and John Carter, and 
that in their flight ; for but one was slaine,] and one 
lightly shot in the flesh ; in the entrance for pillage they 
spared none, friend or foe they lighted of, yet for the most 
part those that did most against them escaped best, the 
same I may say of the fire, though they intended to burne 
the Towne utterly, as may be known by their laying 
lighted match, with powder, and other combustible matter 
at the other end, which fired in divers places, and divers 
was found out and prevented, so that we may truely say, 
that the flames, sword, pilledgers, but especially the prison, 
made a difference betwixt those that feared God, and those 
that fear him not. But this is remarkable in their vile- 
nesse, that all these houses saving two were fired in cold 
blood, at their departure, wherein they endeavoured to fire 
all, and in the flames they would not suffer the people to 
carry out their goods, or to quench it, triumphingly with 
reproaches rejoiced that the Wind stood right to consume 
the Towne, at which present the Lord caused the Winds 
to turn, which was a token of his notice of their insul- 
tation. 

For pillage I heare but of little I lost, having obscured 
the things I had of any valew ; and for fire, God did mar- 
vellously prevent, both to me and many others, whereat 
the malignants are so enraged that they have since pulled 
down my Mill, and pretend that Prince Rupert so com- 
manded, and threaten to pull downe my house and divers 
others, which I thinke they dare not, lest they build it up 
againe, the County having sent them admonition of their 
insolency. 

Prince Rupert with Hastings kept their rendezvow this 
day, within two miles of Lichfield, as we credibly heare, 



BIRMINGHAM. 



45 



what their designe is we know not, I believe they can doe 
no good at Lichfield ; I hope their cruelty in our sufferings 
will provoke this unwilling kingdome to jealousy for the 
Parliament. I pray you when you have read this, shew it 
to Mr. B. and Mr. E. not onely to acquaint them with the 
newes, but of my being in health, with all my Company, 
wherein I have great cause to rejoyce in the Lord, and so I 
rest, 

Your loving friend, 

R. P. 
Coventry, April 8, 
1643. 

Sir, 
Being by my promise ingaged unto you, I am now to 
make relation of a most barbarous massacree of our townes- 
men of Bermingham, and of the enraged cruelty of Prince 
Rupert and his inhumane Cavaliers : Sir, thus it was, 
about three of the clocke one Munday in the afternoone, 
he had with neere two thousand horse and foote, foure 
Drakes and two Sakers, set against the towne playing 
with his ordnance, and endeavouring to force his way, with 
foote and horse, were twice beaten off with our musqueteers 
at the entrance of Derrington, at which many of their men 
fell, the townes-men held them in play above an houre, we 
had not above one hundred and fourtie musquets and 
having" many entrances into the towne they were many too 
few, Coventry men had withdrawne their forces three daies 
before, all but Captaine Castledownes Dragooneers, a 
Troope of horse of Master Perkes commanded by Captaine 
Greaves being in the Towne, not fit for that service, made 
escape when the adversaries began to incompasse the 
Towne, and force the waies over the medowes, and fired 
the Towne in two places, and so by incompassing them 
that did defend the out-worke, caused them to draw inward, 



46 HISTORY OF 

to other workes there in Digboth, which worke they defended 
to the adversaries losse, but being the enemy brake in at 
the Millone they were forced to leave that worke also, and 
so put to shift for themselves, with breaking through 
houses, over garden waies, escaped over hedges and boggy 
medowes, and hiding their armes, saved most of them, 
the enemy killed none, as I here in fight unlesse some three 
or foure, Mr. Carter, and Samuell Elsmore, being of them, 
some with their armes defended themselves stoutly till 
death, they pursued the rest in fields and lanes, cutting 
and most barbarously mangling naked men to the number 
of fifteene men, one woman, another being shot, and many 
hurt, many men sore wounded, and Mr. Tillam the sur- 
geon standing in his dore to entertaine them, was most 
cruelly shot, having his leg and thigh bones broken, they 
pillaged the Towne generally, their owne friends sped 
worst, and one tuesday morning set fire in diverse places 
of the Towne, and have burnt neere a hundred dwellings 
the Welch end, Dale end, and More street end, Hum- 
phrey Rans, the Bell, and diverse houses thereabout, 
many other fires they kindled, but they did not burne, 
they left kindled matches with gunpowder also in other 
places, intending nothing lesse then utterly to destroy the 
Towne, but by Gods providence they whose hurt they 
chiefly intended by Gods hand is much prevented, the 
Cavaliers lye about Clanke beyond Wosall, are joyned with 
Hastings forces, and intend to set on the Close at Lichfield, 
where I feare not but they will have enough ; your Father's 
house stands, but hath lost much, Mr. Roberts Mr. Por- 
ters, and mine be safe, but are threatned to be pulled 
downe, and they pretend Prince Ruperts warrant, but 
however its their envy to God's overruling providence hath 
turned the mischiefe so much on the heads of those that 
might with their timely helpe have prevented this mis- 
chief ; I am much grieved at the losse of your brother, and 



BIRMINGHAM. 47 

many other friends, three being my honest worke-men, 
whose lives I would I had redeemed with mine estate. 
The Cavaliers have lost thirty men at least, of which there 
be three or foure chiefe men Earles and Lords, I beleeve 
you have heard them named the Earle of Denby, the 
Lord John Steiuart, some say the Lord Digby, thirty are 
said to be buried and many carried away wounded, this 
did so much enrage them, that they appeared more like 
Devills then men, lamenting more their losse, then boast- 
ing of their gaine, which was much in goods and in money, 
its thought above two-thousand pound, thirteene hundred 
being taken from Mr. Peake, Mr. Jennens lost much, the 
which men if they had parted with little before, our fortifi- 
cation had been such as they could not have entred, which 
went on well for the time. So wishing you to have com- 
fort in our God, who is able to turne the rage of men to his 
praise, and sweeten this bitter cup by some other comfort 
I conclude and rest, 

Your.s to command, 

R. G. 

I could wish I might heare how the City stands affected 
with our losse, for a little reliefe from them, might much 
comfort many poore people, which have lost all, and are 
left well nie naked and harbourlesse : it would much en- 
courage all to stand out in the cause, that are but indiffer- 
ent, a helpe to ease the better party of, the burthen of the 
which will be otherwaies too great for us ; I would move 
some friends if you thinke fit, I have already put on the 
worke of contribution in this City. 



FINIS, 



48 



HISTORY OF 



A Letter written from Wahhall by a worthy Gentleman 
to his Friend in Oxford, concern'mg Burmingham. 

Printed in the year 1643. A. MS. note adds April 14th. 

Sir, 

Hearing of the approach of Prince Rupert his High- 
nesse, and coming according to my duty to attend him, 
In my way I heard of the miserable destruction of 
Burmingham by fire ; which I must confesse took the 
deepest Apprehensions with me of any one accident 
since the beginning of these unhappy distractions, as pre- 
senting to my view a picture of the present estate of Ger- 
many, and as by a prospective shewing me (not very farre 
off) the Scene translated from thence hither. This sad 
thought drew me to a more narrow enquiry of the causes 
of the burning of the Towne, and whether it was done by 
authority or no. And I found that the Inhabitants of that 
Towne were they who first stirred up those of Coventry to 
resist the King, and that about 300 from thence went into 
Coventry to defend it against the King's Forces, that from 
thence they sent 15000 Swords for the Earle of Essex his 
Forces, and the ayd of that Party, and not onely refused to 
supply the King's Forces with swords for their money, 
but imprisoned diverse who bought swords, upon sus- 
picion that they intended to supply the King's forces with 
them. That afterwards when His Majesty marched that 
way with His Army, out of his princely goodnesse and in 
hope that His Grace and favour would prevayle with them 
to turne good subjects, he gave expresse order that they 
should not be plundered, and because some were plundered 
(though but a few and very little taken from them) there 
was exemplary Justice done by the hanging of two 
Officers, and they had a speciall protection granted to 



BIRMINGHAM, 



49 



them. Yet so little use did they make of the King's Cle- 
mency, that the King's Army was no sooner removed from 
thence but they stayed all the Carriages which did not 
move the same day with the King's Army, amongst which 
was some of the King's Plate and diverse goods of great 
value, and therein they were so hearty and zealous that at 
their owne charges they carried them to Warwicke Castle 
before the king was out of that Shire. 

And they have still continued upon all occasions violently 
to oppose the King, and to ayd those who have taken up 
armes against, him. Insomuch that they made fortifica- 
tions about the Town, and sent out parties to plunder the 
King's friends. 

And when his Highnesse upon Munday last sent one to 
them to take up his quarter at Burmingham, who assured 
them that if they would quietly receive his Highnesse and 
his forces they should suffer no injury, But otherwise they 
must expect to be forced to it, they refused to give him 
Entrance, and prepared themselves with all their strength 
to resist him ; and when his forces drew neare they set up 
their Colours, and sallyed out of their workes, and gave 
fire upon them, and with opprobious speeches reviled 
them, calling them Cursed doggs, develish Cavaliers, Po- 
pish Traytors, and this was done not by a few of them but 
by almost all of them with great shouts and clamours. 
This could not but incense the souldiers, and the Prince 
to make his passage into the Towne was forced to give 
orders for firing a house or two ; but they retiring and fly- 
ing, upon his entrance into the Towne he immediately gave 
order for quenching of the fire which was done accord- 
ingly, and no more hurt was done on Munday. But yes- 
terday his Highnesse being to march from thence, and 
fearing what those great provocations might worke with 
the Souldiers, he gave expresse command that no souldier 
should attempt to fire the Towne. And after his ctepar- 

H 



50 



HISTORY OF 



ture thence some souldiers (as yet unknown) having fired 
the Towne in diverse places, he immediately sent to the 
inhabitants of the Towne, to let them know it was not 
done by his command, and therefore wished them to 
quench it, but the wind being high and the fire encreased, 
it could not be so soone extinguished as was to be 
desired ! 

One thing more I heard of at this taking of Burming- 
ham, which made some Impression with me, which was the 
death of a minister killed presently after the entry of the 
souldiers into the Towne. But it is alleadged that he 
told the souldier who killed him, that the King was a Per- 
jured and Papisticall King, and that he had rather dye 
then live under such a king, and that he did and would 
fight against him ; and in his pocket after his death were 
found some papers sufficient to make mee to beleeve the 
man was either mad, or one of the new Enthusiasts. 
It burdens my modesty to repeat them, but the truth 
(which you will desire to know) extorts them from mee, 
some of them were to this effect, that the 28 of March 
last he had a comfortable Kisse from Mris. E. with 
some moystnesse, and another day a cynnamon Kisse 
from another woman, and another from one of fourteen 
yeares old, with much more such like stuffe which I blush 
to write. 

And surely whatsoever the Principles of these teachers 
may be, the conclusions made by their Disciples is very 
strange. One of the best sort of their prisoners here being- 
discoursed withall concerning his taking up armes against 
the King, and demanded how he could take up armes in 
that manner considering his oaths of Allegiance and 
Supremacy, peremptorily answered, he never did nor never 
would take those oaths. 

Sir, this I thought fit to write to you, while the memory 
of the business is fresh ; and though it may be accom- 



BIRMINGHAM. 51 

panied with these circumstances, yet it much troubles his 
Highnesse that this Accident should now fall out, he well 
knowing that they who are the great Boute Jieus and In- 
cendiaries in the State, will be apt to calumniate him for 
the firing of this Towne, which he never Commanded or 
Countenanced, and the actors of which he is most de- 
sirous to punish, and is most carefull to find out. And 
this narrative now made you may be confident is true, 
comming- from 

Your most humble and 

faithfull Servant. 

Walshall, April 5, 1643. 



FINIS. 



52 HISTORY OF 



Prince Rvperfs Burning Love to England, discovered in 
Birmingham 's Flames; or, a more Exact and true 
Naration of Birmingham; 's Calamities, under the bar- 
barous and inhumane Cruelties of P. Ruperfs forces. 

Wherein is related how that famous and well affected Town of Birmingham. 



was 



Unworthily opposed, "^ 

Insolently invaded 

Notoriously robbed and plundered, V B !/ Prince Rupert's Forces. 

And most cruelly fired in cold blood 



the next day. 



J 



Together with the Number of Prince Rupert's Forces, his considerable Per- 
sons slaine, or mortally wounded ; their many abominable Carriages in and 
after the taking of the Town. The small Strength which Birmingham had 
to maintaine their defence, the Names of their men slaine; the number of 
houses burned, and persons thereby destitute of habitation ; with divers other 
considerable passages. 



Published at the request of the Committee at Coventry, that the King- 
dom may timely take notice what is generally to be expected if the Cavaliers 
insolencies be not speedily crushed. 



A righteous man regardelh the life of his Beast, but the tender mercies 
of the wicked are cruell. — Prov. xii. 10. 



London: Printed for Thomas Vnderhill, 1643, 

[A MS. Note adds, " 1st of May."] 

To correct the many false Reports already spread 
abroad, and to prevent all false narrations for future, con- 
cerning the late surprisall and spoyling- of the Towne 
of Birmingham, in the County of Waricick. This en- 
suing Relation of Passages, hath beene collected from 



BIRMINGHAM. 53 

the severall Informations of divers trusty and Intelligent 
Inhabitants of Birmingham;, who were eye witnesses of, 
and sufferers under many the said calamities of that Towne, 
so farre as the truth of such turbulent distracted Occur - 
reuts can be yet discovered. 

The Towne of Birmingham perceiving that for their 
faithfull affection to King and Parliament, they had derived 
the hatred of Popish and prophane Malignants upon them- 
selves; and that since the Noble Lord Brookes death, 
these parts of the Country began to be much infested with 
divers Troopes of Robbers and Plunderers, whereby their 
persons and estates were much indangered, resolved to 
Arme themselves and estates, and to maintaine two Cap- 
taines for the better Disciplining- and ordering of their 
men to that end : But whilst they were beginning to make 
some slight mounds and Breast-works for defence the week 
before Easter last, information came that Prince Rupert 
with 1500 or 2000 men with 4 Drakes and 2 Sacres was 
upon his march at Stratford upon Avon and about Henly 
some 10 miles distant from Birmingham, where these 
forces hovered about 4 dayes, pillageing the Country ex- 
treamly (as their manner is) Birmingham hoped they 
might passe by them, but afterwards perceiving on Saturday 
night, that it was probable their designe was toward Staf- 
fordshire, and that they would take Birmingham in their 
way ; The Minister of Birmingham entreated the Captaines 
and chiefe of the Towne, by no meanes to thinke of such 
an impossible defence of themselves against 2000, them- 
selves having scarce six score Musqueteers in all the 
Towne, but rather to march away with all their Armes, and 
so secure their Armes and persons, though their goods were 
hazarded, as a thing farre more safe and rationall, which 
motion the Captaines and chiefe of the Town readily im- 
braced, but the middle and inferior sort of people,_(espe- 
cially those that bore Armes) would by no meanes be drawn 



54 HISTORY OF 

to leave the Towne, and so they all resolved to stand upon 
their own guard, otherwise the chiefe of the Towne and the 
Captaines must have departed as Cowards, with great 
Contempt many scornes and curses. 

On Easter Monday Prince Ruperfs Forces approached 
to the Towne about 2 or 3 o'Clock in the Afternoone, at one 
end, presently assaulted it with great fury, discharging their 
Musquets and great pieces onely about 100 Musketiers 
opposing them (the rest hiding themselves) which were 
also divided into severall ends of the Town, and not many 
in any one place, a good while the Musketiers kept them 
off their works, and drove them back till they fired a 
thatched house, and burnt two or three houses at Towns 
end and their Horse also broke into the fields and came in 
at the backsides of the Town through Lake-meadow, which 
forced the Towns-men to retreat back into the Towne to 
charge them, when they came up, when they slew some 
very considerable man who was presently stripped of his 
rich garments, and wrapped in a grey coat, and a woman 
of theirs suborned to lament for him as her husband, they 
called him Adam a Bell, but this loss so enraged them 
that they presently burnt 2 or 3 houses to the ground, where 
they conceived he was shot ; then they broke in so forcibly 
upon the few men in the town that they were forced to scat- 
ter and fly for their lives. It is very remarkable that none 
of them were slaine or hurt whiles they stood upon their 
Guard (as is credibly averred) till they scattered and were 
so singled out. The Cavaliers rode up into the Towne 
like so many Furyes or Bedlams, the Earle of Denbigh 
being in the Front, singing as he rode, they shot at every 
doore or window where they could espy any looking out, 
they hacked, hewed, or pistolled all they met with, with- 
out distinction, blaspheming, cursing, and damning, them- 
selves most hideously. Discovering a Troope of Horse, 
which was under the command of Captaine Greaves at the 



BIRMINGHAM. 55 

further end of the Towne facing them, they pursued after 
them, who after a little flight wheeled about, and most 
stoutly charged them through, and the Captaine recived 
five small wounds (which are now almost well : In which 
charge the Ea. of Denbigh was knockt off his horse, laid 
for dead, and his pockets rifled (though his wounds not 
so mortall as to die presently) the rest of his horse were 
chased till they came neere their own Colours, which was 
excellent service, for meane while most of the Townes foot 
escaped away. / 

After which Captaine Greaves retreated, and so advanced 
to Lichfield. Their Horse rode desperately round the 
Town, leaping hedges and ditches (wherein one is reported 
to breake his neck) to catch the Townes-men ; no mad- 
men could ride more furiously. They slew in their frenzy 
as we are informed, about 14 in all, viz. John Carter, ju- 
nior, William Knight, Glasier, William Billingsley, junior, 
Joseph Rastell, William Turton, Cutler, Thomas the 
Ostler at Swan, pistolled comming officiously to take their 
Horses, Richard Hunt Cobler, Henry Benton Labourer, 
Samuel Elsmore Cutler, William Ward Cutler, Richard 
Adams, Cobler, Widdow Collins, Lucas his Wife, and one 
Mr. Whitehall a Minister, who hath bin long Lunatick, 
held Jewish opinions, and had layn in Bedlam and other 
prisons (some say) 16, some 22 yeares, and was lately come 
out ; they comming to him asked him if he would have 
quarter, he answered to this (or like purpose) he scorned 
Quarter from any Popish Armies or Souldiers, whereupon 
they supposing him to be Mr. Roberts Minister of Birming- 
ham, did most cruelly mangle and hack him to death, and 
found certain idle and foolish papers in his pocket, which 
they spared not to divulge (as they thought to the Round- 
heads infamy) and so went insulting up and down the Towne 
that they had quartered their Minister, out of whose bloody 
hands the Lord's gracious providence delivered him a little 



50 



HISTORY OF 



before the Town was assaulted, and (blessed be God) hee is 
neither slain nor hurt. All the considerable men escaped 
out of their snare, some 40 (they say) were taken prisoners, 
whereof scarce 20, of their own Town, all inferior men, 
most of them their own favourers, and since for trifling 
sums of money they are released all, save 2 or 3 (as un- 
worthy to be kept.) 

Having thus possessed themselves of the Towne, they 
ran into every house cursing and damming, threatning 
and terryfying the poore women, most terribly, setting 
naked Swords and Pistolls to their breasts, they fell to 
plundering- all the Towne before them, as well Malign ants 
as others, picking purses, and pockets, searching in holes 
and corners, Tiles of houses, Wells, Pooles, Vaults, Gar- 
dens and every place they could suspect for money and 
goods, forcing people to deliver all the money they had. 
It is credibly believed they took from one Thomas Peake 
a Councellor 1500 or 1300 li. at least, for he afterwards 
deeply professed that they had but left him in money 
1 5d. q ; and it was commonly known he had about the said 
sums lying cankering and rusting by him for these many 
Yeares, and yet to this day he would never voluntarily 
lend or give the least summe for the Relief of God's Ch : 
and the Land in the present saddest distresses, who being 
under Oneals hands (as we are credibly informed) when 
tidings of their Minister's death was brought to him, re- 
plied (thinking thereby to curry favour) that it had bin 
well if he had bin killed 7 yeares agoe. They have had 
divers great Summes also from others, who have shewed 
small love to King and Parliament ; tooke much money to 
protect people's Houses, and afterwards betrayed them, 
and set them on fire. It is conceived they had 3000/. in 
money from the Towne. They beastly assaulted many 
Women's chastity, and impudently made their brags of it 
afterwards, how many they had ravished ; glorying in 



BIRMINGHAM. 



57 



their shame, especially the French among them, were out- 
rageously lascivious and letcherous. They broke the 
Windowes, spoyled the goods they could not take away, 
and carried with them all the chiefe goods in the Towne, 
some having little left, some nothing- but bare walls, some 
nothing but cloathes on their backs, and some stripped to 
their very shirts and left naked. That night few or none 
of them went to Bed, but sate up revelling, robbing, and 
Tyrannizing over the poore affrighted Women and prison- 
ers, drinking, drunke, healthing upon their knees, yea 
drinking healths to Prince Ruperts Dog. 

Nor did their rage here cease, but when on next day 
they were to march forth of the Towne, they used all pos- 
sible diligence in every Street to kindle fire in the Towne 
with Gunpowder, Match, Wispes of Straw, and Besomes 
burning coales of fire &c. flung into Straw, Hay, Kid piles, 
Coffers, Thatch, and any other places, where it was likely 
to catch hold ; many of which attempts were successlesse 
and found after their departure, yea, it is confidently 
related, that they shot fire out of their Pistolls, wrap- 
ping lighted Match with powder or some other ingredients 
in formes of slugs, or bullets in brown Paper, which them- 
selves confessed was the Lord Digbies devise, that English 
Firebrand ; and lest any should save any of their goods 
they had left, or quench their flames, they stood with their 
drawne swords and Pistols, about the burning houses, 
shooting and indeavouring to kill every one that appeared 
to preserve goods, and quench the fire, domineering at the 
flames, Where's your Coventry now ? Where's your God 
Brookes now ? You may See how Ood fights against you, 
&c. And when some of the Towne (whose purses had 
dearely purchased some interest among them) diswaded 
them for further fireing, one of their owne men confessed 
that every Quartermaster 'was sworne to fire his owne Quar- 
ter, and that they durst not but doe it. By all which it 



58 HISTORY OF 

notoriously appeares, that their full intention was, and 
that by command (let them pretend what excuse they can) 
to burne downe the whole Towne to the ground, and 
doubtlesse would have done it, had not the Lord been 
the more mercifull : the houses burned were about 87. 
besides multitudes of Barnes, Stables and other back 
buildings, belonging 1 both to these dwelling Houses and to 
others that escaped the flames. Persons unfurnished and 
fallen into extreme distresse by this fire, 340, and upwards. 
So that many are quite undone by these barbarous cru- 
elties, which are so much the more cruell, in as much as all 
these (except five or six Houses) were burnt in cool blood, 
the next day after they had sacked the Towne. And yet 
for all this the Souldiers told the Inhabitants, that Prince 
Rupert dealt mercifully with them : but when they came 
back againe with the Queenes Army, they would leave 
neither Man, Woman, nor childe alive. Such are the Ca- 
valiers mercies. This Towne (as is thought) was the first 
Towne in the Kingdom, that was generally plundered 
when the King- marched from Shrewsbury, before Keynton, 
battell and the first that in cold blood was barborously 
fyred : However Prince Rupert hath got himselfe eternall 
honour, by conquering so mighty an enemy as 100. Mus- 
ketiers, with so small an army as 2000. men. Since their 
departure Prince Rupert hearing that some in Birming- 
ham, cursed him for his Cruelties, had designed (as one of 
their owne Party informed) two Troopes of Horse to fire 
the rest of the Towne. Whereupon some of the Towne 
petitioning him not to doe it, he replyed he would not if they 
rebelled not againe, nor returned to their vomit. Sithence 
they have caused one Mr. Porters Blademill in the Towne, 
to be pulled downe, wherein swordblades were made and 
imployed, onely for the service of the Parliament, and so 
they were informed (which cost erecting about 100/.) threat - 
ning if it were not pulled downe. the rest of the Towne 



BIRMINGHAM. 59 

should be burnt. For now they begin to be great Agents 
in Fire-Workes. 

On their part it is probably believed there fell three 
very considerable Men, vis. Earle of Denbigh who 
died not long after of his Wounds, another as is sup- 
posed, was Sir William AYRES. The third as yet not 
knowne. 

Certainly two Coffins were made in Birmingham, while 
the Earle of Denbigh was alive ; and many common Soul- 
diers are supposed to be slaine, some suspected to be buryed 
in the Breast- workes ditch they entred, which they laid flat, 
and charged that none should meddle with it upon paine of 
death, and when they came into the Towne, they cursed at 
the Round-heads, and swore they shot, as if they had been 
shooting at Sparrowes, scarce ever missed Man or Horse. 
They tooke away two Cart load of wounded Men, about 
12 in a Cart, when they went away. Now they have made 
Birmingham a woful spectacle to behold, a thorow Faire 
for Thieves and plunderers ; the rich are wofully wasted and 
spoyled multitudes, almost quite beggered, and undone ; 
it is thought 20000/. cannot repaire their losses, their own 
Malignant neighbours rage at the well-affected, like mad 
men, their minister is driven from home, debarred from 
all imployment and deprived from all his maintenance ; be- 
sides his many losses by fire and plundering, and till those 
parts be cleared small hopes of his safe returne, being so 
much maligned and threatned by the Cavaliers, and the 
domineering anti-guard left in Birmingham. The People 
that are left are fed with such rayling Sermons as one 
Orton Curate to Parson Smith the ancient Pluralist can 
afford them, rankly tempered with the malignancy of his 
owne distempered Spirit. And all well-affected People are 
forced to be absent from their habitations, to their excessive 
charge in this their low estate, for fear of surprizalls, large 
summes being proferred to apprehend them, especially those 



60 HISTORY OF 

of better ranke. Yet they desire to bear all these crosses 
patiently and profitably take with joy the spoyling of all 
their goods, knowing in themselves that they suffer in a 
good cause, and that they have in Heaven a farre better 
and more enduring- substance. 

Let all the Kingdome well consider Birminghams cala- 
mities and conclude what all are like to feele unlesse they 
maturely bestirre themselves to shake off the Cavaliers 
more then Egyptian yoke. 

FINIS. 



Extract from " Vicars's God in the Mount, or Eng- 
land's Parliamentarie Chronicle" which may be found 
at page 296 of that work: 

" April the 8th came certain intelligence to London from 
Brumingham of the cruell slaughter of diverse of the in- 
habitants of that honest Town, and that about eighty of 
their dwelling- houses were burnt downe by that barbarous 
and butcherly Prince of Robbers, and his accursed Cava- 
liers. But yet withall, that his filching Forces got little 
by their so inhumane barbarity : for, God fought for those 
poore unarmed inhabitants, who were for the most part, 
Smiths, whose profession or trade was to make nails, sythes 
and such like iron commodities ; and that with such, iron- 
weapons as they had they so knocked the Earl of Denbigh 
that he received his deaths wound in his furious pursuit of 
some of them, and immediately after dyed of those his 
w ounds : And with him also (as it was credibly informed) 
the Lord Digby that arch-traitor to the Common wealth of 
England was sorely wojinded in the same fight. And this 



BIRMINGHAM. 



61 



also was noted and credibly informed thence as a re- 
markable providence of the Lord. That in the plundering 
and burning of this Town the greatest losse was to the 
malignant partie of that Town who inhabited among them, 
most of the honest and godly men there,, having by Gods 
mercy and good providence carryed and conveyed away 
their best goods into Coventry before the Cavaliers came 
to their Town." 

In 1665, London was not only visited with the plague, 
but many other parts of England, among which Birming- 
ham felt this dreadful mark of the divine judgment. The 
infection is said to have been caught by a box of clothes, 
brought by the carrier, and lodged at the White-hart. 
Depopulation ensued. The church-yard was insufficient 
for the reception of the dead, who were conveyed to Lady 
Wood Green, one acre of waste land, thence denominated 
the Pest Gound. 



MARKET PLACES. 



The Charter for the market has evidently been renewed 
by divers kings, both Saxon and Norman, but when first 
granted is uncertain, perhaps at an early Saxon date ; and 
the day seems never to have been changed from Thursday. 
The first charter we find on record was granted by Henry 
II., to Peter de Birmingham, prior to the year 1166, and 
confirmed by Richard I., to Willliam de Birmingham, son 
and successor to Peter. 

Thursday's market, was no doubt the only market held in 
Birmingham for many centuries, but necessity has created 
two others, viz. those held on Mondays and Saturdays, 
which are equally well attended by venders and customers 
with the original. Indeed, the Saturday's market is by far 
the most important to the bulk of the community, the 
working classes. The space now used as our market, was 
in 1769, completely choked with buildings and filth ; the 
shambles, the round house, and the cross nearly filled the 
area. An act was passed in 1769 to remove these obstruc- 
tions, and also to remove the Beast Market from High 
Street, to Dale End, and the Sheep and Pig Market 
to New Street, where they remained till removed by a 
subsequent Act of Parliament in 1817, to Smithfield. In 
1812, the Street Commissioners obtained an Act of Parlia- 
ment to consolidate three acts then in force, and give them 
further powers. Under the provisions of this act, the Pig 
and Horse Markets were removed from New Street, then 



BIRMINGHAM. 03 

held from Worcester Street to Peck Lane; the Beast 
Market from Dale End, held from High Street to the 
Priory; and the Hay Market from Ann Street. It de- 
clares also that the Bull Ring shall be the sole market 
for vegetables, &c. The Market Tolls were purchased by 
the commissioners from the Lord of the Manor, for £12,500 
by virtue of this act. The present amount of the Market 
Tolls is about £3,000 per annum. The expenses about 
£670, leaving- a nett profit of £2,430 per annum, nearly 
twenty per cent, upon the above outlay. The commissioners 
were also empowered to purchase the ancient Manor House 
and moat, then in the possession of Mr. Frances, as a 
manufactory, to make a Market Place, for the sale of pigs, 
sheep, horses, neat, cattle, hay and straw, &c. This latter 
provision of the act was rather tardily carried into execu- 
tion, at an expense of £5,672. 

The market was first opened May 29th, 1817, being 
Whitsun fair day, five years and nine days after the passing 
of the act. The area of the market is one and a half 
acres. Thus the spot where the ancient barons of Binning- - 
ham used to hold their court, and feast their dependents, 
where the fat of the land had used to be consumed, is now 
the place where it changes hands only. The gibes and jests 
that used to set the table in a roar at the midnight revels 
of these petty kings, while under the influence of their 
good old sack, are now succeeded by the discordant music 
of sheep, pigs, and oxen, sufficient to supply the cravings 
of 150,000 stomachs. 

The act of 1812 having been put in force as far as prac- 
ticable, the commissioners obtained a fifth act, in the year 
1828, granting them considerable powers, in fact, consti- 
tuting them a self-elected and perpetual corporation, over 
whom the inhabitants have no control whatever. Those 
powers to be spoken of here are to erect a Market Hall, 
which has been long wanted, and is now in a very forward 



64 HISTORY OF 

state. It also empowers them to erect a Corn Exchange, 
upon some convenient site. The commencement of the 
Market Hall was delayed till 1833, in consequence of 
large sums having been demanded by parties in possession 
of premises, on the spot fixed upon for the building. 
This spot is decidedly the best that could have been chosen. 
The ground was cleared by the latter end of 1832, and 
the first stone laid in February 1833. The length of the 
building is three hundred and sixty-five feet, by one hun- 
dred and eight feet in breadth ; fronting the north is a 
facade of the Grecian Doric order, sustaining an entablature 
which extends along the flank, and also round the building, 
executed in Bath stone, upon a rusticated basement. There 
are twelve spacious entrances, communicating with High 
Street, Worcester Street, Phillip Street, and Bell Street ; 
the roof is divided into three ranges, supported by two tier 
of ornamental cast iron columns, twenty-eight feet high ; 
the basement story consists of very extensive store vaults, 
and there are twenty-three retail shops fronting Bell Street, 
intended for provision dealers. To the original design of the 
front have been added by the commissioners, two extensive 
retail shops, one occupied by a grocer and tea dealer, Mr. 
Hodgkins, and the other by a wine and spirit dealer ; the 
commissioners fitted up the latter, and obtained licences to 
it, for the express purpose of disposing of it for this trade, 
it was sold by auction for the sum of £5,440 for a term of 
one hundred years, at the annual rent of one pound, 
November, 1833. From the parts already finished, 
we may conclude that the building will reflect great 
credit upon the Architect, Mr. Charles Edge, and the 
builders, Messrs. Dewsbury and Walthews. The mar- 
kets are well supplied with every kind of provisions at 
reasonable prices ; the land surrounding the town is fertile 
in the production of all kinds of vegetables, fruit, &c. 
Evesham, Worcester, Lichfield, and Tamworth, contri- 



BIRMINGHAM. 65 

bute largely to the supply. The lords were tenacious of 
their privileges, or one would think, there was no need 
to renew their charter. Prescription, necessity, and 
increasing numbers, would establish the right. Perhaps, 
in a Saxon period, there was room sufficient in our circum- 
scribed market-place, for the people and their weekly sup- 
plies ; but now their supplies would fill it, exclusive of the 
people. Thus, by a steady and persevering hand, she has 
kept a constant and uniform stroke at the anvil, through a 
vast succession of ages, rising superior to the frowns of for- 
tune, establishing a variety of productions from iron, ever im- 
proving her inventive powers, and perhaps changing a 
number of her people, equal to the whole inhabitants, every 
sixteen years. 



MODERN STATE OF BIRMINGHAM. 



It is the practice of the historian, to divide ancient 
history from modern, at the fall of the Roman empire. 
For, during- a course of about seven hundred years, while 
the Roman name beamed in meridian splendour, the 
lustre of her arms and political conduct influenced, more 
or less, every country in Europe. But at the fall of that 
mighty empire, which happened in the fifth century, every- 
one of the conquered provinces was left to stand upon 
its own basis. From this period the history of nations 
takes a material turn. 

The English historian divides his ancient account from 
the modern, at the extinction of the house of Plantagenet, 
in 1485, the fall of Richard the Third. For, by- the in- 
troduction of letters, an amazing degree of light was 
thrown upon science, and, by a new system of politics, 
adopted by Henry the Seventh, the British constitution, 
occasioned by one small act of parliament, that of allowing 
liberty to sell land, took a very different, and an important 
course. 

But the ancient and modern state of Birmingham, must 
divide at the restoration of Charles the Second. For 
though she had before, held a considerable degree of 
eminence ; yet at this period, the curious arts began to 
take root, and were cultivated by the hand of genius. 
Building leases, also, began to take effect, extension fol- 



HISTORY OF BIRMINGHAM. 67 

lowed, and numbers of people crowded upon each other, as 
into a paradise. 

As a kind tree, perfectly adapted for growth, and 
planted in a suitable soil, draws nourishment from the 
circumjacent ground, to a great extent, and robs the 
neighbouring- plants of their support, that nothing can 
thrive within its influence ; so Birmingham, half whose 
inhabitants above the age of ten, perhaps, are not natives, 
draws her annual supply of hands, and is constantly fed by 
the towns that surround her, where her trades are not 
practised, preventing every increase to those neighbours 
who kindly contribute to her wants. This is the case 
with Bromsgrove, Dudley, Stourbridge, Sutton, Lichfield, 
Tamworth, Coleshill, and Solihull. 

We have taken a view of Birmingham in several periods 
of existence, during the long course of perhaps three 
thousand years ; standing sometimes upon presumptive 
ground. If the prospect has been a little clouded, it only 
caused us to be more attentive, that we might not be 
deceived. But, though we have attended her through so 
immense a space, we have only seen her in infancy ; com- 
paratively small in her size, homely in her person, and 
coarse in her dress. Her ornaments, wholly of iron, from her 
own forge. But now, her growth will be amazing ; her 
expansion rapid, perhaps not to be paralleled in history. 
We shall see her rise in all the beauty of youth, of grace, 
of elegance, and attract the notice of the commercial 
world. She will add to her iron ornaments, the lustre of 
every metal that the whole earth can produce, with all 
their illustrious race of compounds, heightened by fancy, 
and garnished with jewels. She will draw from the fossil, 
and the vegetable kingdoms ; press the ocean for shell, 
skin, and coral : she will tax the animal, for horn, • bone, 
and ivory, and she will decorate the whole with the touches 
of her pencil. 



G8 



HISTORY OF 



I have met with some remarks, published in 1743, 
wherein the author observes, " That Birmingham, at the 
restoration, probably consisted only of three streets." But 
it is more probable it consisted of fifteen, though not all 
finished, and, about nine hundred houses. I am sensible 
when an author strings a parcel of streets together, he fur- 
nishes but a dry entertainment for his reader, especially to 
a stranger. But, as necessity demands intelligence from 
the historian, I must beg leave to mention the streets and 
their supposed number of houses. 

Digbeth, nearly the same as now, except the twenty- 
three houses between the two Mill Lanes, which 
are of a modern date, about - - - . - 1 1 

Moat Lane (Court Lane) 12 

Corn Market and Shambles - - - - 50 

Spiceal Street 50 

Dudley Street - 50 

Bell Street 30 

Philip Street - - 20 

St. Martin's Lane - - - - _ -15 

Edgbaston Street ---.._ 70 

Lee's Lane ---_-__ 10 

Park Street, extending from Digbeth nearly to the 

East end of Freeman Street - - - - 80 

Moor Street, to the bottom of Castle Street - - 70 
Bull Street, not so high as the Minories - - 50 

High Street - - - - - . - 100 

Deri tend and Bordesley - - - - - 120 

Odd houses scattered round the verge of the town - 70 



907 
The number of inhabitants, 5,472. 

The same author farther observes, " That from the 



BIRMINGHAM. 69 

restoration to the year 1700, the streets of Birmingham 
were increased to thirty-one." But I can make their 
number only twenty-eight, and many of these far from 
complete. Also, that the whole number of houses were 
two thousand five hundred and four, and the inhabitants 
fifteen thousand and thirty-two. The additional streets 
therefore seem to have been Castle Street, Garr's Lane, 
Dale End, Stafford Street, Bull Lane, Pinfold Street, 
Colmore Street, the Froggery, Old Meeting Street, Wor- 
cester Street, Peck Lane, New Street, (a small part) Lower 
Mill Lane. 

Dr. Thomas, the continuator of Dugdale, tells us, 
" The old parish contained about nine hundred houses, the 
new between seven and eight, Deritend ninety, and Bor- 
desley thirty," but omits the time ; probably about the 
erection of St. Philip's. 

From the year 1700 to 1731, there is said to have been 
a farther addition of twenty-five streets, I know of only 
twenty-three : and also of 1215 houses, and eight thou- 
sand two hundred and fifty inhabitants. Their names we 
offer as under : — Freeman Street, New Meeting Street, 
Moor Street (the North part) Wood Street, the Butts, 
Lichfield Street, Thomas's Street, John's Street, London 
'Prentice Street, Lower Priory, the Square, Upper Priory, 
Minories, Steelhouse Lane, Cherry Street, Cannon Street, 
Needless Alley, Temple Street, King's Street, Queen 
Street, Old Hinkleys, Smallbroke Street, and the East 
part of Hill Street. 

I first saw Birmingham July 14, 1741, and will peram- 
bulate its boundaries with my traveller, beginning at the 
top of Snow Hill, keeping the town at our left, and the 
fields that then were, on our right. 

Through Bull Lane we proceed to Temple Street ; down 
Peck Lane, to the top of Pinfold Street ; Dudley Street, 
the Old Hinkleys to the top of Smalbroke Street, back 



70 HISTORY OF 

through Edgbaston Street, Digbeth, to the upper end of 
Deritend. We shall return through Park Street, Mass- 
house Lane, the North of Dale End, Stafford Street, 
Steelhouse Lane, to the top of Snow Hill, from whence we 
set out. 

If we compare this account with that of 1731, we shall 
not find any great addition of streets ; but those that were 
formed before, were much better filled up. The new streets 
erected during these ten years were Temple Row, except 
about six houses. The North of Park Street, and of Dale 
End ; also Slaney Street, and a small part of the East side 
of Snow Hill. 

We have now girt Birmingham, as the priests did 
Jericho, seven times, but with this difference, they con- 
tinued the same rout, we extended ours. In their march 
the buildings fell, in ours they rise. 

From 1741, to the year 1781, Birmingham seems to 
have acquired the amazing augmentation of seventy-one 
streets, four thousand one hundred and seventy-two houses, 
and twenty-five thousand and thirty-two inhabitants. 
Thus her internal property is covered with new erected 
buildings, tier within tier. Thus she opens annually a 
new aspect to the traveller; and thus she penetrates along 
the roads that surround her, as if to unite with the 
neighbouring towns, for their improvement in commerce, 
in arts, and in civilization. 

I have often led my curious inquirer round Birmingham, 
but, like the thread round the swelling-clue, never twice 
in the same track. We shall again examine her boun- 
daries. Our former journey commenced at the top of 
Snow Hill, we now set off from the bottom. 

The buildings in 1781, extended about forty yards be- 
yond the Salutation, near the Wolverhampton Road. We 
turn up Lionel Street, leaving St. Paul's, and about three 
new erected houses, on the right ; pass close to New Hall. 



BIRMINGHAM. 



71 



leaving it on the left,, to the top of Great Charles Street, 
along Easy Hill ; we then leave the Wharf to the right, 
down Suffolk Street, in which are seventy houses, having 
two infant streets also to the right, in which are about 
twelve houses each: up to Holloway Head, thence to 
Windmill Hill, Bow Street, Brick Kiln Lane, down to 
Lady Well, along Pudding Brook, to the Moat, Lloyd's 
Slitting Mill, Digbeth, over Deritend Bridge, thence to 
the right for Cheapside ; cross the top of Bradford Street, 
return by the bridge to Floodgate Street, Park Street, 
Bartholomew's Chapel, Grosvenor Street, Nova Scotia 
Street, Woodcock Lane, Aston Street, Lancaster Street, 
Staniforth Street, Price's Street, Bath Street, to the bot- 
tom of Snow Hill. 

The circle I have described is about five miles. 
There are also beyond this crooked line, five clumps of 
houses belonging to Birmingham, which may be deemed 
hamlets. 

At the Sand Pits upon the Dudley Road, about three 
furlongs from the buildings, are fourteen houses. 

Four furlongs from the Navigation Office, upon the 
road to Hales Owen, are twenty-nine. 

One furlong from Exeter Row, towards the hand_, are 
thirty-four. 

Upon Camp Hill, one hundred and thirty yards from 
the junction of the Warwick and Coventry roads, which 
is the extremity of the present buildings, are thirty-one. 

And two furlongs from the town, in Walmer Lane, now 
Lancaster Street, are seventeen more. 

Since my last journey round Birmingham, the reader 
and the writer have had a respite for ten years ; we shall 
therefore in the present year, 1791, make exactly the same 
tour, and, with a critical exactness, observe what streets 
and houses have arisen on our right, out of solitary fields. 
The cattle have been turned out of their pasture, to make 



72 HISTORY OF 

room for man : and the arts are planted where the daisy 
grew. These additions are so amazing, that even an 
author of veracity will barely meet belief. A city has 
been grafted upon a town ! instead of Birmingham draw- 
ing her neighbourhood only, she seems to draw the world. 
I shall divide my examination into eight parts, accord- 
ing to the eight roads which proceed from her. I will 
omit the five hamlets, for before for I can mend my pen 
for another edition of this work, they will be united to the 
place. 

Between the Roads to Wolverhampton and Dudley, are, 

HOUSES. 

On the West side of Constitution Hill, extending to 

the first mile stone - ... 46 

Falkner Street 15 

Kenyon Street - 70 

North wood Street - - - ' - - -19 

Cock Street - 54 

Henrietta Street 60 

Mary Ann Street 52 

North end of Livery Street 206 

Water Street 81 

North of Church Street and Ludgate Hill - - 47 

St. Paul's Square 62 

Caroline Street - - - - - 11 

Mount Street ----- . - 61 

Brook Street _______ 8 

James Street _______ 7 

North side of Lionel Street 46 

North end of Newhall Street - - - _ 12 

Fleet Street 104 

North side of Summer Row, between the two Canals 16 



977 



BIRMINGHAM. iS 

There were only three houses, March 14, 1779, in this 
division. By that day twelvemonth they had increased to 
fifty-five, and March 14, 1781, they were one hundred and 
forty-four. ~ The same day in the present year (1791) there 
is an addition of eight hundred and thirty-three. 

From the Dudley to the Bewdley Road. 

HOUSES 

South side of Summer Row - - - - - 18 

Crescent - - 5 

King Edward's Place ------ 29 

North side of the Bewdley Road, extending to the 

Canal -- 5 



57 



Between the Bewdley and the Bromsgrove Roads. 

South side of the Road ----- 7 

Bridge Street - - - - 12 

Wharf Street ------- {22 

Foredraft Street 74 

Norfolk Street - ...._- 41 

South end of Navigation Street - - - 49 

Ditto of Cross Street - - - - - -15 

Gough Street - - 25 

Suffolk Street - - - 297 

Little Hill Street - - - - - 12 

South end of Bristol Street, beyond Inge Street - 41 

695 
Deduct for seventy houses in Suffolk Street, and 
twenty -four in two infant streets - - - 94 



001 



74 HISTORY OF 



From the Bromsgroi>e to the Coventry Road. 

HOUSES 

North end of Bristol Street, East of Inge Street - 1 7 
Thorpe Street - - - - - -84 

Dean Street - - - - - - -12 

Inge Street - _ _ _ 55 

Hurst Street 14 

Bromsgrove Street - - - 39 

Balsall Street - - - 39 

Rea Street - ______ 44 



304 



From the Coventry to the Coleshill Road. 

Milk Street - ... 71 

Coventry Street - - - 41 

Oxford Street 30 

Bordesley Street - - - - 88 

Mountjoy Street - - - - - - 41 

Canal Street - 13 

Fazeley Street - - - - - - - 21 

Bartholomew Street - - - - - -125 

South side of Vauxhall Row - - - 20 
Watery Lane - - - - - --24 

Great Brook Street - - - - 27 

Lawley Street _______ 47 

Windsor Street ------- 55 

Henry Street _______ g 

South side of Mile End (Ashsted) - _ _ 94 



705 



BIRMINGHAM. 



75 



Between the Road to Coleshill and that to Lichfield. 

HOUSES 

West side of Mile End - 12 

Woodcock Lane - - 87 

Leicester Street - - 8 

Aston Road, East - 16 

Love Lane - - - - .23 

Duke Street - - 47 

Prospect Row - ----- 32 

225 
Deduct for the seventy houses in Duke Street, &c. 70 



155 



From the Lichfield to the Stafford Road. 

On the West of Lichfield Road - -32 

North end of Duke Street - 8 

York Street, North end - 9 

Addition to Stainforth Street - - - -65 

Nell Street - - - 11 

Lancaster Street - - 63 



188 



From the Stafford to the Wolverhampton Road. 

North side of Price's Street ----- 4 

Summer Lane -------58 

Hospital Street -------70 

Llampton Street -------77 

Bond Street ",'-."- ' ' -' ' '.-'-'- 9 

St. Luke's Row, to the Mile Stone - 24 



242 



76 HISTORY OF 

This great circle of streets, which has surrounded Bir- 
mingham during the last ten years, will he found to be 
seventy, and the houses three thousand one hundred and 
forty-five. There must also have been erected in the 
internal parts of the town six hundred more, so that an 
augmentation has taken place of three thousand seven 
hundred and forty-five, and twenty thousand four hundred 
and seventy inhabitants. 

The hamlets of Deritend and Bordesley, which were 
chiefly one street in 1767, contain, 

HOUSES 

On the East end of Digbeth - - - - 40 

Mill Lane 44 

The Street called Deritend - - - - - 287 

Quality Row (now Bridge Row) - - 10 

Birchall Street ... - - 77 

Lombard Street - - - - - - -60 

Alcester Street ------- 94 

Brandy Row - - - 19 

Warwick Street ... - - 28 

Bradford Street - - 112 

Green Street ------- 25 

Cheapside - - - - - - -108 

Moseley Street - 50 

954 

The whole of Deritend and Bordesley, in 1781, consisted 
of five streets, four hundred houses, and two thousand one 
hundred and twenty -five inhabitants. The streets are now 
thirteen, the houses nine hundred and fifty-four, and the 
inhabitants five thousand and thirteen. Birmingham has 
therefore added to her dimensions, during the last ten 
years, seventy-eight streets, four thousand two hundred 
and ninety-nine houses, and twenty-three thousand three 
hundred and fifty-eight people. 



BIRMINGHAM, 



I shall comprise, in one view, the stale of Birmingham 
in fourteen different periods; and though some are imagi- 
nary, perhaps they are not far from real. 



STREETS. 


HOUSES. 


SOULS. 


In the time of the ancient Britons 


80 


400 


A. D. 750, 8 


600 


3000 


10G6, 9 


700 


3500 


1650, 15 


900 


5472 


1700, 28 


2504 


15032 


1731, 51 


3717 


23286 


1741, 54 


4114 


24660 


1781, 125 


8382 


50295 


1791, 203 


12681 


73653 


1801, 250 


15650 


73670 


1811, 260 


16096 


85755 


1821, 325 


21345 


106722 


1831, 400 


29397 


146986 


1834, 436 


31008 


155038 



It is easy to see, without the spirit of prophecy, that 
Birmingham has not yet arrived at her zenith, neither is 
she likely to reach it for ages to come. Her increase will 
depend upon her manufactures ; her manufactures will 
depend upon the national commerce ; national commerce 
upon a superiority at sea ; and this superiority may be ex- 
tended to a long futurity. 

The interior parts of the town, are like those of other 
places, parcelled out into small freeholds, perhaps, origi- 
nally, purchased of the lords of the manor ; but, since its 
amazing increase, which began about the restoration , large 
tracts of land have been huxtered out upon building leases. 
Some of the first that were granted, seem to have been 
about Worcester and Colemore Streets, at the trifling 
annual price of one farthing per yard, or under, The 



78 HISTORY OF 

market ran so much against the lessor, that the lessee had 
liberty to build in what manner he pleased ; and, at the 
expiration of the term, could remove the buildings unless 
the other chose to purchase them. But the market, at 
this day, is so altered, that the lessee gives sixpence per 
yard ; is tied to the mode of building, and obliged to leave 
the premises in repair. 

The itch for building is predominant : we dip our fingers 
into mortar almost as soon as into business. It is not 
wonderful that a person should be hurt by the falling of a 
house ; but, with us, a man sometimes breaks his back by 
raising one. This private injury, however, is attended 
with a public benefit of the first magnitude ; for every 
" House to be Let" holds forth a kind of invitation to the 
stranger to settle in it, who, being of the laborious class, 
promotes the manufactures. 

If we cannot produce many houses of the highest orders 
in architecture, we make out the defect in numbers. Per- 
haps more are erected here, in a given time, than in any 
place in the whole island, London excepted. It is re- 
markable, that in a town like Birmingham, where so many 
houses are built, the art of building is so little understood. 
The stile of architecture in the inferior sort, is rather 
shewy than lasting. The proprietor generally contracts 
for a house of certain dimensions, at a stipulated price : 
this induces the artist to use some ingredients of the 
cheaper kind, and sometimes to try whether he can cement 
the materials with sand, instead of lime. But a house is 
not the only thing spoiled by the builder ; he frequently 
spoils himself: out of many successions of house-makers, 
I cannot recollect one who made a fortune. Many of these 
edifices have been brought forth, answered the purposes 
for which they were created, and been buried in the dust, 
during my short acquaintance with Birmingham. One 
would think, if a man can survive a house, he has no great 



BIRMINGHAM. 79 

reason to complain of the shortness of life. From the ex- 
ternal genteel appearance of a house, the stanger would be 
tempted to think the inhabitant possessed at least of a 
thousand pounds ; but, if he looks within, he sees only the 
ensigns of beggary. We have a people who enjoy four or 
five hundred pounds a year in houses, none of which, per- 
haps, exceed six pounds per annum. It may excite a 
smile, to say, I have known two houses erected, one 
occupied by a man, his wife, and three children ; the 
other pair had four ; and twelve guineas covered every 
expense ! Pardon, my dear reader, the omission of a 
pompous encomium on their beauty, or duration. 

I am inclined to think three-fourths of the houses in 
Birmingham stand upon new foundations, and all the 
places of worship, except Deritend Chapel. 

About the year 1730, Thomas Sherlock, late Bishop of 
London, purchased the private estate of the ladies of the 
manor, chiefly land, about four hundred per annum. In 
1758, the steward told me it had increased to twice the 
original value. The pious old Bishop was frequently so- 
licited to grant building leases, but answered, " His land 
was valuable, and if built upon, his successor, at the 
expiration of the term, would have the rubbish to carry 
off:" he therefore not only refused, but prohibited his 
successor from granting such leases. But Sir Thomas 
Gooch, who succeeded him, seeing the great improvement 
of the neighbouring estates, and wisely judging fifty 
pounds per acre preferable to five, procured an act in 
about 1766, to set aside the prohibiting clause in the 
Bishop's will. Since which, a considerable town may be 
said to have been erected upon his property, now about 
£2400 per annum. 

An acquaintance assured me, that in 1756 he could have 
purchased the house he then occupied for £400 but 
refused. In 1770, the same house was sold for £600, and 



80 HTSTORY OF 

in 1772, I purchased it for eight hundred and thirty-five 
guineas, without any alteration, but what time had made 
for the worse : and for this enormous price I had only an 
old house, which I was obliged to take down. Such 
is the rapid improvement in value, of landed property, 
in a commercial country. Suffer me to add, though 
foreign to my subject, that these premises were the pro- 
perty of an ancient family of the name of Smith, now in 
decay ; were many centuries ago one of the first inns in 
Birmingham, and well known by the name of the Garland 
House, perhaps from the sign ; but within memory, 
Potter's Coffee House. Under one part was a room about 
forty-five feet long, and fifteen wide, used for the town 
prison. In sinking a cellar we found a large quantity of 
tobacco-pipes of a singular construction, with some very 
antique earthenware, but no coin ; also loads of broken 
bottles, which refutes the complaint of our pulpits against 
modern degeneracy, and indicates the vociferous arts of get- 
ting drunk and breaking glass, were well understood by our 
ancestors. In penetrating a bed of sand, upon which had 
stood a workshop, about two feet below the surface we 
came to a tumulus six feet long, three feet wide, and 
five feet deep, built very neat, with tiles laid flat, but no 
cement. The contents were mouldered wood, and pieces 
of human bone. 

I know of no house in Birmingham, the inns excepted, 
whose annual rent exceeds ninety pounds. The united 
rents appear to be about one hundred thousand, which if 
we take at twenty years purchase, will compose a freehold 
of £2,000,000 value. 

The new erections I have described, with their ap- 
pendages, cover about three hundred acres. If we allow 
the contents of the manor to be two thousand nine hun- 
dred, and deduct nine hundred for the town, five 
hundred more for roads, water, and waste land, and rate 



BIRMINGHAM. 81 

the remaining- one thousand five hundred at the average 
rent of £3 per acre, we shall raise an additional freehold 
of £4500 per annum. 

This landed property, at thirty years purchase, will 
produce £135,000 and, united with the value of the build- 
ings, the fee simple of this happy region of genius, will 
amount to £2,135,000 (1791). 

Between the years 1791 and 1808 Birmingham suffered 
from a variety of conflicting causes, and seems to have 
made little or no progress. The riots, which took place in 
July, 1791, were soon after followed by a very expensive 
war, which added many millions to our national debt. These, 
with a stagnation of trade, and the very high prices of pro- 
visions, in 1800, occasioned by bad harvests, when flour sold 
at six shillings per stone, of fourteen pounds, and other 
things in proportion, caused a decrease in the above years in- 
stead of an increase. Many thousands of able-bodied and 
industrious mechanics entered the army and their masters 
the gazette, and one thousand eight hundred and fifty 
houses were left without tenants in 1808 : many of which 
were completely demolished, and tiles, timber, glass, lead, 
and even bricks, to the very foundation, were carried off. 
Affairs took a turn soon after this time, and the inhabit- 
ants increased more than the buildings ; if one house was 
to let ten persons were ready to take it, and notwith- 
standing that the war continued till 1814 and 1815, and 
carried off many thousands of the flower of our youth, 
Birmingham continued to increase. 

From 1791 to 1811 the increase was only thirteen 
thousand one hundred and two, and the greater part of 
the addition was made in the last three years of this 
time. In the twenty years subsequent to 1811 she inr 
creased sixty-one thousand two hundred and thirty-one. 
From 1791 to 1801 a difference of seventeen only is 
shewn ; and the town decreased from that time till about 

M 



82 HISTORY OF 

1808. In the ten years subsequent to 1811, the increase 
was twenty thousand nine hundred and seventy-six. In 
this interval great and severe distress was again felt from 
bad harvests. That of 1816 will long be remembered, as 
one of great privation and suffering to the humble and 
industrious classes of society, Potatoes sold at one shil- 
ling and twopence per peck, or four shillings and eight 
pence per bushel ; and bread at one shilling and five 
pence halfpenny the quartern loaf, in 1817. 

Many thousands were thrown out of employment by 
the peace of 1814, who had previously been engaged in 
the manufacture of the various military implements, for 
which so great a demand had been created by the long 
and ruinous war with France ; together with the dis- 
banded soldiers, so over handed those trades in which 
employment remained, that an immediate decrease in the 
price of labour, and an increase in the Poor Rates were 
the consequences. In 1819 many means were resorted 
to by the wealthy and benevolent, to alleviate the miseries 
of the poor, £5,500 were subscribed, and soup was distri- 
buted three times each week. Great quantities of rice, 
flour, and bacon, were sold somewhat under cost price, 
and the difference paid by subscription. Tn this year the 
country was in a complete ferment. Want of employment 
and the high price of provisions had driven the poor 
to desperation, and the Poor Rates, taxes, and loss of 
trade, had reduced the middle classes almost to a state of 
insolvency. 

Parliamentary Reform, which had some time been 
agitated, assumed at this period, a formidable appearance. 
Petitions, containing strong language, were presented to 
both houses of parliament, signed by more than a million 
and a half of persons. The government became alarmed, 
and sent spies into all parts of the country, not to detect 
plots, but to form them, and then sacrifice their victims. 



BIRMINGHAM. 83 

There were a few discontented and repining spirits in 
Birmingham, whose blood was sought by these nefarious 
means. The suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, in 
1817, brought to a close the Hampden Club, established 
in Birmingham, in 1815. The members, of which, \*ere 
the principal agitators of the day. Lord Sidmouth, the 
Secretary for the Home Department, issued warrants to 
apprehend persons suspected of being disaffected. Many 
arrests took place in various parts of the country. Men 
were dragged form their homes and families, and kept in 
various prisons, from six to eighteen months, and were 
then discharged without trial. 

The year 1818 brought with it a continuation of the 
distress felt in 1817. The Poor Rates amounted to 
£61,928, and, although thgre were at that time, about 
eighteen thousand houses in Birmingham, the whole 
of this burthen was to be borne by the inhabitants 
of four thousand houses only ; in consequence of the other 
portion being too poor to pay. This would make an 
average assessment of two-thirds the rental. At this 
time, 1834, there are about thirty-one thousand houses 
in Birmingham; and the amount of Poors' Rates collected 
for the year ending Lady-Day, 1834, was £44,312 4s. 3|d. 
or about £17,616 less than was collected in 1818, when 
there were thirteen thousand houses less than at pre- 
sent. 

An Act of Indemnity was passed at the close of the Session 
this year, (1818) to indemnify those persons concerned in 
the various acts of despotism, committed under the direc- 
tion of Sidmouth and others. In 1819 the reformers 
began again to take the field, and a great meeting was 
held on New Hall Hill, July 12, 1819, for the purpose of 
obtaining the representation of the people in parliament. 
Sixty thousands were said to have assembled upon this 
occasion. One of the resolutions appointed Sir Charles 



£4 HISTORY OF 

Wolsley, Legislatorial Attorney, and representative of 
the inhabitants of Birmingham; and he was instructed to 
claim, on their behalf, admission to the House of Com- 
mons, as a member. A cabinet council was held imme- 
diately, and in a few days, a proclamation was issued, by 
the cabinet, denouncing- as illegal the proceedings at this 
meeting. The principal persons who spoke at this as- 
sembly were indicted for a conspiracy. 

Messrs. George Edmonds, William Greatheed Lewis, 
Charles Maddox, Thomas Jonathan Wooler, and Major 
Cartwright, after a harassing- prosecution, which lasted 
two years, during- which time, they were obliged to attend 
at Warwick, through three different assizes, and at the 
Court of King's Bench, in three different terms, were 
sentenced as follows : G. Edmonds, nine months ; T. J. 
Wooler, fifteen months ; C. Maddox, eighteen months 
imprisonment in Warwick Goal ; and Major Cartwrig-ht, 
to a pay a fine of £100 to the king - , he having been put 
to more than £1000 in travelling-, law, and other expenses ; 
W. G. Lewis was sentenced to two years imprisonment, 
in Oakham Goal, for a pretended libel, published in a 
Coventry newspaper. 

In this year the celebrated Six Acts were passed, one 
of which was directed against the press, and every means 
were taken to ensure the abject submission of the people. 
The tax of fourpence, which was laid upon newspapers, in 
1 797, was now made applicable to all pamphlets and 
printed papers, published at a less price than sixpence. 
The Georgian statesman makes it capital to teach the 
black slave to read. The British only visit the white 
with a fine of fourpence for each offence. 

Birmingham escaped with the imprisonment only of a 
few of her sons, notwithstanding the spy, Oliver, made 
many efforts to hatch a plot, in which many lives would 
have been sacrificed, had he succeeded. 



BIRMINGHAM. 85 

Manchester, about this time, shared a worse fate. 
Many persons were slaughtered, and others wounded, at a 
public meeting 1 , and some imprisoned for the same offence. 
Gradually things changed their aspect ; an improved 
trade, with good and plentiful harvests, brought money to 
the pockets of the mechanic, and provisions to moderate 
prices. In 1823, 1824, and 1825, we find Birmingham 
as well as every part of the empire, in full and constant 
employment. Combinations were formed amongst the 
workmen to raise the price of labour, in consequence of 
the increased demand. An advance was made in the 
prices of coals, iron, brass, tools, and every other article 
used in the manufacture of Birmingham hardwares. Many 
turn-outs took place among the workmen, and in some 
cases an advance was obtained in their wages. 

But this shining picture for the mechanic, and hey-day 
for the publican, which the improvidence of the former 
always creates for the latter ; at times, when plenty of 
money is to be obtained by labour, keeping up the good 
old custom of getting money like horses and spending it 
like asses, was destined to be of short duration. In 
December, 1825, the panic came and swept away all the 
fond cherished hopes of continued prosperity. The im- 
provident or unfortunate mechanics were under the ne- 
necessity of applying to the parish, and their masters to 
the Insolvent Debtors' Court. One bank failed on this 
occasion — which has now paid seventeen shillings and 
sixpence in the pound. The loss of this bank, which 
had afforded great accommodation to the tradesmen, was 
severely felt. Trade slowly improved towards the latter 
part of 1826 and the beginning of 1827. But the mechanic 
never recovered his prices. In many instances much less 
was paid than before the advance in 1824 and 1825, and 
in some cases half, and even one-third was paid for the 
same labour. 



86 HISTORY OF 

In 1810, one guinea per gross was paid for the opera- 
tions performed by one man in the stamped brass foundry 
trade, and in 1826 the same article was sold, including 
the cost of materials and the labour of the other operations, 
for the sum of fifteen shillings per gross. 

In 1830, the Political Union was established. The 
history of which will form a separate article. During- the 
years 1831 and 1832 much excitement prevailed, occa- 
sioned by the Reform Bill, which was finally passed, 
June 7, 1832. 

Church Rates had long been felt as a grievance in 
Birmingham, in consequence of so large a proportion of 
the inhabitants belonging to dissenting congregations. 
The thirst for reform, about this time, caused this unjust 
impost to meet with particular attention. A few indi- 
viduals had been for a series of years labouring to reduce 
this tax. The rate which had previously been tenpence 
to one shilling and sixpence in .the pound, was reduced in 
1830 to fourpence; and in 1831 a second rate was granted 
of the like sum. But at a meeting, held August 7, 1832, 
convened for the purpose of granting a rate, and receiving 
the accounts of the late churchwardens, who had expended 
about £400 more than the estimates, some resolutions were 
passed condemnatory of the system of taxing men for a 
religion they do not approve; and a petition founded 
thereon to the legislature, praying them to remove the 
obnoxious impost, was carried by acclamation. The 
church party were overwhelmed by the spirit that now 
fully developed itself, and offered little resistance. The 
meetings usually held upon Church Rates were very 
numerously attended, and frequently of the most noisy 
and turbulent description, generally occasioned by the 
rector as chairman, refusing to put questions to the vote, 
unless according to the views and wishes of the church 
party, and not conforming to established usage in con- 



BIRMINGHAM. 87 

ducting the business of the meeting. The meeting 
adjourned from time to time, till the rector finding the 
opposition had not abated, thought proper to end the 
contest by requesting that the adjourned meeting might 
not be called. No Church Rate has therefore been 
granted since 1831, and in all probability another will 
never be granted by the consent of the parishioners. 

In 1833 trade was very good, as was manifest by the 
establishment of Trades Unions, throughout the kingdoms. 
Birmingham was not last in the formation of these asso- 
ciations. The first stone of a building to be called the 
Operative Builders' Guild Hall, was laid in great pomp. 
Some progress was made in the work, but it now 
stands in ruins, a monument of their folly, disunion, and 
pusillanimity. The seeds of discord were sown among 
the unions, by various means, which have nearly brought 
them to a close. 

Some few strikes took place, which generally ended by 
both master and men being injured. The men by" the 
privations they suffered, and the master by the loss of 
orders, from delay, or being unable to execute them to 
price. Trade is, this year, 1834, very dull. The Ame- 
rican trade, which forms some considerable portion of 
our commerce, is at a stand, in consequence of an altera- 
tion of the currency of that country. From 1827 to the 
present time, no very great fluctuations have taken place 
in trade or the price of provisions. Bread now sells at 
fivepence halfpenny the quartern loaf, of four pounds : 
beef sixpence per pound, mutton sevenpence, and other 
things in proportion. During the war, such quanti- 
ties of paper money was issued, that the nominal value 
of every species of property was increased to nearly double 
what they were in 1791, It will, therefore, be clear to 
the reader, that the houses spoken of, by Mr. Hutton, 



88 HISTORY OP 

which let for £G per annum, were, after- the introduction 
of paper money let for about double that sum. 

There are a few old and miserable tenements let now 
for two shillings per week, or less ; but comfortable dwell- 
ings, fit for the humblest mechanic, are not to be obtained 
for less than two shillings and sixpence to four shillings 
per week, or about £8 to £12 per annum. There are 
only about eight thousand houses, rented at £10 and 
upwards, in the town, out of thirty-one thousand, leav- 
ing a great majority, between £7 and £10. An un- 
restricted franchise of £6 would give nearly twenty-five 
thousand voters. As the franchise now stands, above 
three thousand will never be brought to the poll. Land is 
now let from sixpence to one shilling per yard, per annum, 
leasehold. The rents too of business situations are much 
increased ; many houses let. for sums varying from £100 to 
£150 per annum, and some few for £200 to £300 per annum. 
The united rents now amount to about five hundred thou- 
sand; this includes the parish of Birmingham, and so much 
of the other parishes which now form part of the town, and 
must ever be considered inseparable from it. This will give 
a freehold of £10,000,000 at twenty years purchase. 

We will once more proceed to mark the boundaries of 
Birmingham, and it can then be compared with the circle 
of 1741. We must go to Hockley Brook, nearly, before 
we have a fair start. We will proceed down the lane 
to the left, opposite the end of New John Street, west 
to Wharestone Lane, leaving a few streets newly formed, 
and the neat little Chapel, of All Saints, consecrated Sep- 
tember 28, 1833, to the right hand; up Wharstone Lane, 
to the turnpike along- Summer Hill, down Cottage Lane, 
to the Canal Bridge, at the Crescent; along the Canal 
to Sheepcote Street, Mill Street, Grosvenor Street, Lady- 
wood Lane, Islington Row, leaving Hagley Row, Calthorpe 



BIRMINGHAM. 89 

Street, Frederick Street, and George Street on the right, 
thence down Bank Street, Lee Bridge Road, Lee Bank 
Terrace, Sun Street, cross the Bristol Road, into Benacre 
Street, along the Pershore Road, to Moseley Street, 
Lombard Street, Darwin Street, Moseley Road, Raven- 
hurst Street to Camp Hill, down Sandy Lane, Water 
Lane, Lawley Street, leaving- New Dartmouth Street, 
Garrison Lane, Saltley Street, and Witton Street to the 
right ; proceed to Vauxhall Lane, Bloomsbury Place, and 
down Great Lister Street, leaving about four hundred 
houses on the right, three hundred and fifty of which 
were erected since the spring of 1833. A great number 
are not finished, and only a few inhabited. We now 
proceed along Dartmouth Street, and cross Aston Road, 
to New John Street, and along New John Street west, 
leaving Harding and Ormond Streets to the right, in 
New Town Row, and thence to the Hockley Road, the 
point from which we set out. This irregular circle is 
about nine miles in extent. From Bloomsbury Place to 
the Fiveways turnpike, and Camp Hill, to Hockley Brook, 
are the greatest distances. 



STREETS AND THEIR NAMES. 



We accuse our short-sighted ancestors, and with reason, 
for leaving us almost without a church-yard and a market- 
place ; for forming some of our streets nearly without 
width, and without light. One would think they in- 
tended a street without a passage, when they erected 
Moor Street ; and that their successors should light their 
candles at noon. This was widened in the year 1807. 

Something, however, may be pleaded in excuse, for we 
should ever plead the cause of the absent, by observing, 
the concourse of people was small., therefore a little room 
would suffice ; and the buildings were low, so that light 
would be less obstructed : besides, as the increase of the 
town was slow, the modern augmentation could not then 
be discovered through the dark medium of time ; but the 
prospect into futurity is at this day rather brighter, for we 
plainly see, and perhaps with more reason, succeeding 
generations will blame us for neglect. We possess the 
the power to reform, without the will ; why else do we 
suffer enormities to grow, which will have taken deep root 
in another age ? If utility and beauty can be joined 
together in the street, why are they ever put asunder f 
It is easy for Birmingham to be as rapid in her improve- 
ment, as in her growth. 

We have more reason to accuse ourselves of neglect, 
than our ancestors ; for we cherish all their blunders in 




Aston-st to Baggot-st 10, 14. 

f— 'Summer-hill toHa ley-row, 4, 8 

et— 'Snowhill to Liverv-st 10 

— Shirloek-st to Moseley-road, 1,5,6 

t Bordesley to Warwiek-st 5 

ti vhall-st to Graliam-st 11 
eet, Highgate 
Bradford-st 

W. 

Jl1 et Queen-st to Foredrough'St 7 
igh-st to Paradise-st 6, 7 

Ann-st to Mount-st 7 
,8,11 

1 — Lancaster-st to Walmer-lanc, 15 
-Steelhouse-lane to Liehfield-st 10 
-Temple-row to New-st 6 
Summer-hill to Cottage-lane, 8 
Sand-pits 

Bloomsbury 
et — Doe-st to Hick's-square, 10 
-Suftblk-st to Foredrough-st 7 
James-st to Constitution-hill, 11 

place — Vauxhall-lane, 13 

o. 

road-st Mill-st 7 
trt 'a Vew town-row, Asylum road, 15 
.gbeth to Bordesley-st 6 
.ster-st to Love-lane, 14 



P. 

Paradise street — New-st to Easy-row, 7 

Paradise row, Darwin-st 

Parade the, Newhall hill 

Park street— Digbeth to Masshoue-lane,6, 10 

Park lane — Paik-st to Allison-st 6 

Park place, Aston-road 

Park vale, ditto 

Palmer street — Gt. Barr-st 9 

Peck lane — New-st to Dudley-st 6 

Pershore street — Smallbrook-st to Bromsgrove-st 6 

Pcrshore road, Balsall-st 2 

Phillip street— H igh-st to Worcester-st 6 

Pinfold street— Peck-lane to New-st 6, 7 

Pope street — Albion-st to Wharstone-lane, 8, 12 

Potter street — Lancaster-st to Moland-st 10 

Powell street — Camden-st to Summer-hill, 8 

Price street — Lancaster-st to Loveday-st 10 

Princep street— vLancaster-st to Shadwell-st II 

Princes street— Coleshill-st A. B. House, 10 

Princes row — Hick's-square to Howe-st 10 

Pritchett street — New Town-row to Aston-road, 15 

Priory Upper — Steelhouse lane to the square, 10 

Priory Lower — Dale-end to the square, 10 

Prospect row — Coleshill-st to Woodcock-st 10 

Primrose hill, Great Lister-st 

Prospect hill, Handsworth 

Puddingbrook, near Brornsgrove-st 2 

Pumphry's street, New Town-row 

V. 

Vale street — Navigation-st to New Inkleys, 6 
Vauxhall street — Staft'ord-st to New Thomas-st 10 
Vauxhall lane — Lawley-st to Bloomsbury, 
Vauxhall grove, Vauxhall-lane, 13 
Vittoria street — Graham-st to Wharstone-lane, II, 12 
Vinegar si— Bristol-road to Pershore-road, 2 

u. 

Union street — High-st to Cherry-st 6, 

Union passage— Union-st to Bull-st 6 

Union terrace, Vauxhall-road 

Unite street — Gt. Hampton-row to John st West 



"Walmer lane, New Town-row, 15 

Warwick street — Alcester-st to Warner's-!ane,5 

Warwick road, Camp-hill, 5 

Warner's lane — Bradlbrd-st to Bordcsley, 5 

Water street— Snowhill to Church-st II 

Water lane — Lawley-st to Covenlry-ioad, 5, 9 

Ward, street — Tewer-st to Summer-iaue, 15 

Ward street, Hockley 

Waterloo place, Moor-street 

Waterloo street — Temple-row to Ann-Rt 7 

Weaman street — Steelhouse-lane to Btilh-st 10, II 

AVeaman row, St. Maiy's. 10 

Well street — Hockley to John-st West, 12, 16 

Well street. Pinfold st 

Wellington road — Bristol-road to Edglaston Church 

West parade, Ed^baston 

Wharf street— Suiiolk-st to Bridge-st 7 

Wharf street — Winsor-st to Lawley-st 9 

Wharstone lane — Hall-st Hockley, and Summer-hill 

Whittall street— Steelhouse-lane to Bath st 12 

Willis street — Lister-st to Gt. Brook-st 13 

William street Communication-row, Martin-st 3 

William street North— Summer-lane to Hospital-st II 

Windmill hill, Holloway.head 

Windmill street Horse Fair, 2 

Winsor street — Vauxhall to Lister-st 9, 13 

Wittonstreet — Gai rison-laneto New Dai frncul h-st 

Woodcock street Gosty green to Prospect-row, 10, 14 

Worcester street — New-st to Smallbrook-st 6 

Wood street — Moor-st to Park-st 10 

Worcester road, Brisoi-road, 2 

IT. 

York street — Lancaster-st to Slamforth-st 10 



C tVatsoii, Printer, Temple-st. Bhminghmn j 



The Streets, with their Boundaries 



PLAN OF BIRMINGHAM, 1834. 




C. ffatson, Printer, Tmple.it. B*r 



BIRMINGHAM. 91 

street-making, and upon these we graft our own. The in- 
habitants of Birmingham may justly be styled Masters 
of Invention: the arts are obedient to their will. But if 
genius displays herself in the shops, she is seldom seen in 
the streets : though we have long practised the art of 
making- streets, we have an art to learn ; there is not a 
street in the whole town but might have been better con- 
structed. 

When land is appropriated for a street, the builders are 
under no control • every lessee proceeds according to his 
interest, or fancy ; there is no man to preserve order, or 
prescribe bounds : hence arise evils without a cure : such 
as a narrowness, which scarcely admits light, cleanli- 
ness, pleasure, health, or use ; unnecessary hills, like that 
in Bull Street; sudden falls, owing- to the floor of one' 
house being laid three feet lower than the next, as in 
Coleshill Street ; one side of a street, like the deck of a 
ship, gunnel to, several feet higher than the other, as in' 
Snow Hill, New Street, Friday Street, Paradise Row, 
Lionel Street, Suffolk Street, Brick Kiln Lane, and Great 
Charles Street. Hence also that crowd of enormous bulk 
sashes ; steps, projecting from the houses and the cellars ; 
buildings which, like men at a dog-fight, seem rudely to . 
crowd before each other; pent-houses, rails, pallisades, 
&c. which have long called for redress. 

Till the year 1769, when the Lamp Act was obtained, 
there was only two powers to correct these evils ; the 
Lord of the Manor and the freeholders ; neither of which 
were exerted. The Lord, so far from preserving the 
rights of the public, that he himself became the chief 
trespasser. He connived at small encroachments in others 
to countenance his own. Others trespassed like little 
rogues, but he like a lord. In 1728, he seized a public, 
building, called the Leather Hall, and converted it to his 
private use. George Davis, the constable, summoned the 



92 HISTORY OF 

inhabitants to vindicate their right ; but none appearing, 
the Lord smiled at their supineness, and kept the property. 
In about 1745, he took possession of the Bull Ring-, their 
little market-place, and began to build it up ; but although 
the people did not bring their action, they did not sleep as 
before, for they undid in the night what he did in the 
day. In 1758, when the houses at No. 3 were erected, in 
that extreme narrow part of Bull Street, near the Welch 
Cross, the proprietor, emboldened by repeated neglects, 
chose to project half a yard beyond his bounds. But a 
private inhabitant, who was an attorney, a bully, and a 
freeholder, with his own hands, and a few hearty curses, 
demolished the building, and reduced the builder to order. 
But though the freeholders have power over all encroach- 
ments within memory, yet this is the only instance upon 
record of the exertion of that power. 

The town consists of about two hundred (now four) 
streets, some of which acquired their names from a variety 
of causes, but some from no cause, and others have not 
yet acquired a name. Those of Bull Street, Cannon 
Street, and London 'Prentice Street, from the signs of 
their respective names. The first of these, was originally 
Chapel Street, from a chapel belonging to the priory, 
which covered that ground now inhabited by Francis 
Goodall, Esq., and the place of interment extended to the 
spot now occupied by Charles Greatrex. Some receive 
their names from the proprietors of the land, as Smal- 
broke Street, Freeman Street, Colmore Street, Slaney 
Street, Weaman Street, Bradford Street, Colmore Row, 
Philip Street, and Bell Street. Digbeth or v Duck's Bath, 
from the pools for accommodating that animal, was ori- 
ginally Well Street, from the many springs in its neigh- 
bourhood. Others derive a name from caprice, as Ja- 
maica Row, John and Thomas's Streets. Some from a 
desire of imitating the metropolis, as Fleet Street, Snow 



BIRMINGHAM. 93 

Hill, Ludgate Hill, Cfeeapside, and Friday Street. Some 
again from local causes, as High Street, from its eleva- 
tion, St. Martin's Lane, Church Street, Cherry Street, 
originally an orchard, Chapel Street, Bartholomew Lane, 
Mass-house Lane, Old and New Meeting Streets, Steel- 
house Lane, Temple Row, and Temple Street, also, Pin- 
fold Street, from a pinfold at No. 85, removed in 1752. 
Moor Street, anciently Mole Street, from the eminence 
on one side, or the declivity on the other. Park Street 
seems to have acquired its name by being appropriated to 
the private use of the lord of the manor, and, except at 
the narrow end next Digbeth, contained only the corner 
house to the South, entering Shut Lane, No. 82, lately 
taken down, which was called the Lodge. Spiceal Street, 
anciently Mercer Street, from the number of mercers* 
shops ; and as the professors of that trade dealt in grocery, 
it was promiscuously called Spicer Street. The present 
name is only a corruption of the last. The spot, now the 
Old Hinkleys, was a close, till about 1720, in which horses 
were shewn at the fair, then held in Edgbaston Street. It 
was since a brick-yard, and contained only one hut, in 
which the brickmaker slept. The tincture of the smoky 
shops, with all their black furniture, for welding gun- 
barrels, which afterwards appeared on the back of Smal- 
broke Street, might occasion the original name Inkleys ; 
ink is well known ; leys, is of British derivation, and 
means grazing ground ; so that the etymology, perhaps, 
is Black Pasture. The Butts, a mark to shoot at, when 
the bow was the fashionable instrument of war, which the 
artist of Birmingham knew well how to make, and to use. 
Gosta Green (Goose Stead) a name of great antiquity, 
now in decline ; once a track of commons, circumscribed 
by the Stafford Road, now Stafford Street. The roads to 
Lichfield and Coleshill, now Aston and Coleshill Streets, 
and extending to Duke Street, the boundary of the manor. 



94 HISTORY OF 

Perhaps, many ages after, it was converted into a farm, 
and was, within memory, possessed by a person of the 
name of Tanter, whence Tanter Street. 

Sometimes a street fluctuates between two names, as 
that of Catherine and Wittal, which at length terminated 
in favour of the latter. Thus the names of Great George 
and Great Charles stood candidates for one of the finest 
streets in Birmingham, which after a contest of two or 
three years, was carried in favour of the latter. Others 
receive a name from the places to which they direct, as 
Worcester Street, Edgbaston Street, Dudley Street, Lich- 
field Street, Aston Street, Stafford Street, Coleshill Street, 
and Alcester Street. 

A John Cooper, the same person who stands in the list 
of donors in St. Martin's Church, and who, I apprehend, 
lived about two hundred and fifty years ago, at the Talbot, 
now No. 20, in the High Street, left about four acres of 
land, between Steelhouse Lane, St. Paul's Chapel, and 
Walmer Lane, to make lovedays for the people of Bir- 
mingham ; hence Love-day Croft. Various sounds from 
the trowel upon the premises, in 1758, produced the name 
of Love-day Street (corrupted into Lovely Street). This 
croft is part of an estate under the care of Lench's Trust ; 
and, at the time of the bequest, was probably worth no 
more than ten shillings per annum. At the top of Walmer 
Lane, which is the north-east corner of this croft, stood 
about half a dozen old almshouses, perhaps erected in the 
beginning of the seventeenth century, then at a considerable 
distance from the town. These were taken down in 1764, 
and the present almshouses, which are thirty-six, erected 
near the spot, at the expense of the trust, to accommodate 
the same number of poor widows, who have each a small 
annual stipend, for the supply of coals. This John 
Cooper, for some services rendered to the lord of the 
manor, obtained three privileges — that of regulating the 



BIRMINGHAM. 95 

goodness and price of beer, consequently he stands in (he 
front of the whole liquid race of high tasters ; that he 
should, whenever he pleased, bait a bull in the bull-ring, 
whence arises the name ; and, also be allowed interment 
in the South Porch of St Martin's Church. His memory 
ought to be transmitted with honour to posterity, for 
promoting the harmony of his neighbourhood, but he 
ought to have been buried on a dunghill, for punishing 
an innocent animal. His wife seems to have survived 
him — she also became a benefactress, is recorded in the 
same list, and their monument, in antique sculpture, is yet 
visible in the Porch. 



THE POLITICAL UNION. 



This Institution has been created, answered the immediate 
purposes for which it was formed, and is now in a state of 
suspended animation ; ready to rise at the first call, and 
renew the contest for the remaining portion of our civil 
rights. Should it, however, be disposed to " Sleep on 
now and take its rest," history will not let it be buried 
in oblivion. She will record its deeds in her pages, and 
hand them down to posterity, as the most remarkable and 
bloodless victories ever achieved by the united people of 
any country, in any age. As much honour is due to this 
association, for its efforts in gaining the great Bill of 
Reform, we shall proceed to detail its history fully and 
fairly. We will first glance over the principal efforts to 
obtain a reform by other parties, who paved the way, and 
in some degree prepared the public mind for the changes 
effected by this measure. For many years, the subject 
had occupied the attention of the greatest statesmen. In 
1783, Mr. Pitt declared, that no honest man could 
administer the affairs of this country, without a reform in 
the Commons' House of Parliament. May 6, 1793, the 
present Earl Grey, then Charles Grey, Esq., offered to 
prove on oath, that eighty-four individuals, did by their 
own authority, send one hundred and fifty-seven members 
to parliament; and that a decided majority of the house 
was returned by one hundred fifty-four peers and rich 
commoners. A petition, containing these facts, emanating 



BIRMINGHAM. 97 

from a society called, " The Friends of the People/' was 
presented by Mr. Grey, their official organ. He made an 
attempt in 1797, and also in 1800, but failed, and from this 
date, till the period when his majesty called him to his 
councils, after the resignation of the Duke of Wellington, 
he remained silent upon this subject. Motions were 
repeatedly made by the leading men of the time, for 
reform, but always unsuccessfully. Societies were formed 
to promote the cause, and it appeared in a fair way for 
success, when the excesses of the Parisians arrested its 
progress, and its principal advocates were ashamed or 
afraid to proceed. The peace of 1814 gave time for its con- 
sideration, and the distress of the following years, gave it an 
impetus and importance it at no former time possessed ; but 
wily and unprincipled men were at the head of affairs, who 
scrupled not to adopt the policy of the revolutionary rulers 
of France, which they had so long and frequently 
execrated. The spies sent through the country, to get 
up plots to entrap the unwary, aided very materially in 
opening the eyes of the people, and increased their affection 
for " the good old cause." 

The people's petitions were answered, by the suspension 
of the Habeas Corpus Act in 1817, and by fine, imprison- 
ment, and slaughter, in the following years. Major 
Cartwright, who had been labouring in the cause for 
many years, succeeded in establishing associations, under 
the title of Hampden Clubs, throughout the kingdom. 
One was established in Birmingham in 1815, but after 
agitating the question of reform for two years, during the 
whole of which time, they were completely beset by 
government spies, and narrowly escaped with their lives, 
it broke up. (See page 82 to 84.) They imprisoned 
some, and silenced others, but still man spoke to man, of 
the iniquity of their proceedings, and the cause silently 
and securely progressed to break out like the waters 

o 



98 HISTORY OF 

forced into a subterraneous channel, where it never had 
been expected, and never could be arrested. In 1819, 
Mr. Attwood consulted his friends on the propriety of 
forming a Political Union, for the redress of grievances, but 
the times were too gloomy and portentous then to hope 
for success, and he was dissuaded. The events of the 
following- years, excited the hopes of those who were 
already persuaded that no reform could be gained, but by 
an overwhelming expression of the people's will, while 
others began to despair of ever having our wrongs 
redressed by peaceable means. 

The fifteen years following the peace, with the exception 
of the sudden and short lived prosperity of 1824 and 1825, 
were years of almost uninterrupted distress. Workmen 
were under the necessity of wandering from place to place, 
to obtain " leave to toil," and the masters were unable to 
grant the request. The peasantry, with their wretched 
wives and children, were a ruined people. Their bodily 
powers impaired, their moral qualities degraded, innocence 
and cheerfulness had fled, with the last vestige of self 
dependence and comfort, from their humble dwellings. 
Thousands of workmen and labourers sought in another 
land, that peace and comfort their forefathers had formerly 
enjoyed in this. It was useless to look to the parliament 
for relief. Its members were too high born, and too much 
absorbed in fashionable follies, to contemplate the distress 
of those beneath them. At three different times was this 
subject brought before the house, and they literally refused 
with the greatest levity, to allow its investigation. Mr. 
Western gave notice of a motion to inquire into the 
causes of the national distress, in 1822. Mr. Davenport 
gave notice of a similar motion in 1827; and in 1829, 
Sir Richard Vivian brought the subject again before 
parliament; the whole of these propositions were re- 
jected, and their supporters treated with laughter. How 



BIRMINGHAM. 99 

could this be otherwise, when the rights and interests 
of the mass of the people were not represented there. 
The great aristocratical interests were well represented, 
the landed interest, the church, the law ; the monied 
interests were all well represented, but industry and 
trade, had scarcely any advocates within those walls. 

During the above named years, millions were voted 
away to uphold the [church. The landed interest was, 
and now is, supported by monopolies, injurious to society 
in general; and the monied interest escaped, by paying 
only a small proportion of the heavy taxation. Even the 
giving of members to large towns, proposed by one who 
afterwards brought forward a motion more worthy his 
house and name, was rejected ; and the still smaller 
measure of transferring the franchise from a constituency 
convicted of bribery and corruption, to a large town, met 
the same fate. The causes of this conduct are clearly 
perceived, when we examine how the house was constituted. 
The majority of the members being returned, as before 
stated, by one hundred and fifty-four individuals, who are 
reported to have bargained with the ministry for the votes 
of their nominees. More than one hundred members were 
exposed to the suspicion of having their judgments biassed 
by the public purse. 

These things explain the conduct which puts the 
patriot and honest man to the blush, and will make the 
parliament of 1820, for ever infamous in the annals of the 
country. The nation continually becoming more en- 
lightened, from the varied and numerous means taken 
to improve the public mind, could not long view these 
abuses with equanimity of temper. The delusions which 
the Tories had so long employed to keep the good things 
to themselves, were fast passing away. Good men 
became alarmed, lest the conviction daily gaining ground, 
that the people had been the dupes of a faction, should 

L.oFC, 



100 HISTORY" OF 

hurry them into measures that none could direct, and none 
control. Indeed, men not remarkable for foresight, 
became apprehensive of danger. They saw the public 
mind ripe and ready for action, and knew not how to pass 
through the coming calamities, when it should have flung 
off control. It therefore required some genuine patriots 
to step forward and direct the public mind, ere it choose 
to direct itself. 

Under these circumstances, then, it was considered 
necessary to form a General Political Union, and organiza- 
tion of the middle and industrious classes. A meeting- 
was held, January 25, 1830, at Mr. Beardsworth's 
Repository, Cheapside, for this purpose. A council was 
appointed to inquire, consult, and report from time to 
time, upon the legal rights due to the people, and to 
determine what political measures it would be advisable 
to have recourse to, that public opinion might not be 
scattered and diffused throughout the country, or concealed 
within the breasts of individuals. To collect and con- 
centrate into influential masses, the wishes, the wants, and 
the opinions of the people, and direct them in a legal and 
proper course. No desire was entertained to do others 
wrong, but justice was sought for themselves and their 
country. At the conclusion of Mr. Attwood's address, he 
made the following declaration to the fifteen thousand of 
his fellow-townsmen assembled. "I feel it my duty to 
declare to you, that I know my country to be on the verge 
of dreadful calamities. It may be thought, because I 
come forward now, that I shall be ready e come weal, come 
woe,' to head you through thick and thin, through the 
dark and dreary seasons which are approaching. As far 
as law will justify me, I will go with you, but if the 
elements of law and order are disorganized, I will go with 
you no farther." 

An attempt was made to prevent the formation of the 



BIRMINGHAM. 101 

union, under the plea that the leader was but a young 
reformer,, and being- a banker, desired to have a re- 
issue of paper money, because more profitable to him 
than a gold currency ; but it most signally failed, he having 
declared, that, in his opinion, the distress then endured 
was mainly to be attributed to the change of the currency, 
but that he cared not, whether our burdens were reduced to 
a level with our means, or our means raised to the level of 
our burdens, and not oblige us to fulfil contracts made in a 
currency fifty per cent, less valuable than the present. 
The council were also to prevent and redress, as far as 
practicable, all local wrongs and oppressions, and all local 
encroachments upon the rights, interests, and privileges of 
the community. 

No greater proof need be required that the union had 
been formed at the proper time, to be of use to the country 
at large, than the success which attended its efforts. 
Before the close of the first year, two thousand two 
hundred members were enrolled, subscribing from four 
shillings to two guineas per annum. Letters and messages 
were received from many of the nobility, expressing their 
cordial approbation of the objects of the union, and what 
was of more importance, advice was given by various 
lawyers of eminence, to guide the council in the intricate 
path on which it had entered. 

Many parts of the United Kingdom, followed the 
example of Birmingham, and unions were formed at 
London, Nottingham, Coventry, Keighley, Bolton, Stow- 
in-the-Wold, Manchester, Leeds, and Huddersfield. The 
parent union already commanded some of that attention it 
afterwards so pre-eminently gained, and never abused. 

As it had frequently been urged that the reformers were 
a dissatisfied set of men, who could not agree among 
themselves upon the measure of reform necessary, and 
therefore it could not reasonably be expected, that any one 



102 HISTORY OF 

of the government, should devise a plan to satisfy the 
multitudinous opinions prevalent among them. The 
council, therefore, thought proper to remove this objection, 
by adopting some comprehensive measure, as a rallying 
point for all good reformers. As no measure then before 
the public, sufficiently digested, appeared so likely to 
answer this end, as a bill introduced to the house of 
Commons, by the Marquis of Blanford, that was adopted, 
and one thousand five hundred copies of a declaration 
thereon, printed and circulated. At a general meeting, 
at which this measure was adopted, the following resolutions 
were also unanimously passed. 

" That the following medal be adopted as the badge of the 
union, attached to a ribbon, on which is enwoven the red 
cross of St. George, quartered by that of St. Andrew, 
common called, the British Union Jack. A standard that 
has nobly supported the national honour in foreign climes, 
and which, we trust, will be equally efficacious in the great 
moral contest, for recovering the national liberty at 
home. 

" Obverse of the medal — the British lion, rousing himself 
from slumber ; legend above, ' the safety of the king and of 
the people ;' legend below, ' the constitution, nothing less and 
nothing more.' Reverse of the medal — the royal crown of 
England, irradiated ; immediately beneath the crown, on a 
scroll, the words, e unity, liberty, prosperity;' legend above, 
' God save the king f legend below, ' Birmingham Political 
Union, 25 January, 1830.' " 

A gold medal was at the same time presented to Thomas 
Attwood, Esq. the patriotic and talented chairman of 
the council, as a token of his services to the union, the 
town of Birmingham, and the whole British nation. June 
the 26th 1830, will for ever be memorable in the annals of 
this country. It was a stormy day, followed by a very 
stormy night. The lightning" split the forest tree, the 



BIRMINGHAM. 103 

rain washed the hills, and inundated the valleys, and the 
floods carried away the property of the inhabitants of the 
low country ; but it will be more memorable as the day of 
the late king's demise, and of William the Fourth's 
accession to the throne. 

Every lover of his country, hailed the event with un- 
disguised joy, and from the known opinions and straight- 
forward policy of the Duke of Clarence, it was anticipated 
that the new King was one of whom we need be proud. 
The council had determined to express their satisfaction, 
by joining in the procession, at the proclamation of the 
new king; but they were redressers of local wrongs, and 
consequently were not respected by the local authorities. 
The under sheriff requested that they would not thus 
express their loyalty to the king. The council, therefore, 
in courtesy to the under sheriff, joined as individuals. 

At the general election, consequent on the accession of 
his present majesty, the council exerted themselves on a 
more dignified subject, and not without some success. A 
declaration of the causes of the national distress was issued, 
and an address to the electors of the United Kingdom was 
printed and circulated, calling upon them to pledge the 
candidates to vote for a reform in the Commons' House, as 
no other measure would permanently relieve the country ; 
and a deputation was appointed to attend the nomination 
at Warwick, which was followed by very salutary effects, 
as will afterwards be seen. 

The annual meeting-, July 26, 1830, was held three 
weeks after the time appointed by law, to suit the con- 
venience of Sir Francis Burdett, who presided. The union 
at this time contained five thousand members, and its 
yearly income was nearly £1,200. The council were re- 
elected, and a handsome silver service was presented to 
Mr. Beardsworth, for the use of his repository, which he 
had so generously offered upon all occasions. The council 



104 HISTORY OF 

had now gained much of the moral power, which was after- 
wards successfully exerted. The whole of the United 
Kingdom looked up to them for direction, and for relief 
from oppression. Ireland had long been taxed to support 
a church, an alien to the wishes of the people, and to their 
devotional feelings. They had long been considered legal 
outcasts, and the knowledge of their situation created 
discontent and dispair. A people with high national 
generous sympathies and feelings, which sometimes carry 
them over the bounds of discretion, could not look with 
complacency on the connection between themselves and 
their oppressors. By the exertion of their moral force, 
they had wrung the relief bill from the right hand of power, 
but the relief bill was no antidote to the accumulated 
injuries of centuries. An Irishman came to the council 
to obtain its interference on their behalf. He represented 
the wrong's of his country with all the feeling- and eloquence 
which is known to characterize the natives of " the beautiful 
isle of the west ;" and declared that nothing but the repeal 
of the union could ever remove the evils of his country. 
The council differed with him in opinion, and issued a 
declaration to the people of Ireland, in which they wished 
success to all their efforts to remove the wrongs they had 
so long suffered, and proceeded as follows : — t( People 
of Ireland, if you should succeed in obtaining a repeal of 
the union, we cannot think it would relieve your distress, 
unless a thorough reform in the Irish house of parliament 
be first effected. Three hundred years of misery must 
have convinced you that it would not. Scotland has not 
been injured by the union ; Wales has not been injured by 
the union ; it is doubtful whether Ireland has been injured 
by the union ; we think she has not. She has only borne 
her common share in the common calamities, but not 
possessing the influence of England, those calamities have 
fallen upon her with a deadly pressure." 



BIRMINGHAM. 105 

It further called upon them to unite to gain a reform in 
the house of commons, as there alone could their grievances 
be redressed. Now it was that the Duke of Wellington, 
then premier, made the famed announcement that no 
reform would take place during his administration ; and 
that no reform was wanted. The spirit of the council 
appeared to rise under the difficulties which had unexpect- 
edly arisen. A petition of rights was drawn up, " claiming 
and demanding" a restitution of those birthrights they had 
been deprived of during the last hundred and thirty years. 
Means were taken to petition the king to dismiss his 
ministers ; when the house of commons did its duty, and 
gave universal satisfaction to the nation. The union con- 
gratulated the nation in general upon the change which 
had taken place in Lis majesty's councils, and expressed 
the pleasure they received from the pledges of the new 
ministry ; and the people were invited to come forward to 
assist the king and his councillors to rid the nation for 
ever of the domineering borough faction. At the latter 
part of the Duke of Wellington's administration, the once 
noble peasantry of England were goaded to madness by the 
miseries they endured. They saw not the miseries of 
others, but their own were pre-eminently before them, and 
misguidedly believed ; they were created by local oppres- 
sors . With this impression, they stole out in the silence 
of night, and fired the property of those they hated ; adding 
misery to misery, and widening the distance between them- 
selves, and their equally ruined employers. The new 
administration tried them by special commissions, and 
numbers were condemned to die. The council petitioned 
the King to extend his mercy to these miserable men, but 
without effect. William Cobbett, Esq. was arraigned, July 
Tth, 1831, in the Court of King's Bench, before Lord 
Tenterden, and a special jury, for a libel published in the 
Register of the 1 1 th December, 1 830 ; headed " Rural 



106 HISTORY OF 

war:" alleged to have been written with a view to ex- 
cite the peasantry to further acts of the above descrip- 
tion. The government who carried on this prosecution, it 
will be remembered, was a Whig - government, and most 
signally they failed. Mr. Cobbett defended himself in 
person, and summoned as witnesses, Lord Brougham, Lord 
Radnor, Lord Melbourne, and many other persons of 
distinction, landowners, &c. It was in times of this 
critical description, when no man's life or property was 
safe, and every description of prosecution was aimed against 
the press ; and indeed against every other person who dared 
to council the people, that the council had to act the part 
they were all through so successful in maintaining. It will 
also be observed, that the Whigs were as little disposed to 
grant reform, as the Tories ; but it was wrung from them 
by the resistless power of the unions. 

When the measure of reform was made known, nothing 
could exceed the joy of the people at its completeness. 
The whole of the United Kingdom expressed their grati- 
tude to the King and his ministers, and their determination 
to support and carry them through the opposition which 
was sure to be raised against them. " Never believe," 
said Mr. D. B. Attwood, " that the people of England, who 
have always claimed courage as their birthright, and 
boasted that their country was the native land of freedom, 
would either shrink from the contest, or be overpowered 
while struggling in her sacred cause." "The unions," 
said Mr. Thomas Attwood, "has condensed the moral 
power of this great population, and gathered it as it were 
into an electrical mass, which is powerful to every good 
purpose, and utterly impotent to every bad one. Suppose, 
for instance, our good king should meet difficulties in his 
path, from the pertinacity of the oligarch ; suppose they 
should refuse to obey the laws, and make fight upon the 
occasion, why the very moment he commands us, we would 



BIRMINGHAM. 107 

produce a national guard, that would be like a wall of fire 
around his throne. It is not too much to say, that if the 
king- requires it, we could in this district produce within 
a month, two armies equally as numerous and as brave as 
that which conquered at Waterloo." 

This language gave great umbrage to the tory party, 
who in their organ, the Quarterly Review, published two 
months before the usual time, said, " To all political asso- 
ciations we are declared enemies on principle, but if a 
body like the Birmingham Political Union, is to be per- 
mitted to bully the authorities, and to threaten the land 
with civil war, they must be encountered by a similar 
confederacy." Certainly there was [a confederacy of the 
inhabitants of Birmingham, with the intent to follow the 
king and his ministers. Determined to gain what they 
had so frequently prayed the legislature to grant, and 
which had always been sternly refused. For this purpose, 
in general meetings assembled, " they pledged themselves 
individually and collectively, zealously to support their 
sovereign and his ministers in every possible way their 
assistance may be required to carry this great and com- 
prehensive plan of reform which his majesty has graciously 
authorised his ministers to bring forward." They also 
prayed the house of commons to adopt the measure. 
Every county, city, and borough in the United Kingdom, 
rose as one man to express their determination to have 
" the bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill." The 
union did all that lay in their power to effect the same 
object. They assembled together, they petitioned the 
parliament, they expressed their gratitude to the king 
and his ministers, and they marched twenty miles to the 
county meeting, and added vigour to the determination of 
the assembled multitude. But the house of commons had 
been elected when Tory favours were liberally expended, 
and the people were as one without hope, and never 



108 HISTORY OF 

expected to triumph over the party which had so long 
mled the nation. Though the bill was read a second time 
by a majority of one, it was rejected in committee. 
The king, his ministers, and the people were not to be 
thus cheated of a measure on which they had set their 
affections. As soon as the rejection of the bill was 
known, his majesty resolved to dissolve the parliament in 
person. 

There was some delay in getting ready the state carriages, 
but his majesty exclaimed, " Bring me a hackney coach, 
for I am determined to do my duty." When the first 
signal gave notice of the king's approach, the house of 
lords presented a scene of indescribable confusion ; the 
loud boom of the cannon could no more be heard in the 
tumult; many rose together to speak on the important 
occasion, and straining their voices to the utmost pitch, 
uttered confused, incoherent, and passionate language ; 
as the king entered the house, the cry of treason broke 
from the lips of some intemperate senator. The " loud 
hubbub wild," did not subside until his majesty stepped 
upon the throne, and as he made the celebrated declaration 
in reference to the reform bill, " I will appeal to my 
people," the lords fully perceived the utter discomfiture 
which had overtaken them. But though the decisive 
charge had thus been made, the victory was not won 
without many a hard contest, and many a determined 
struggle. A town's meeting was immediately called by the 
council, to express the gratitude to his majesty, which the 
people felt at his magnanimous conduct. " This is an 
occasion," said Mr. T. Attwood, " in which a patriot king 
has placed himself at the head of his people, in the great 
cause of recovering the lost liberty and happiness of this 
great and glorious, but long misgoverned and oppressed 
nation." " I have read much of history, and most of the 
great events which history records, are deeply engraven on 



BIRMINGHAM. 109 

my mind ; but among all those events, I cannot call to my 
mind, one in which more true wisdom, virtue, courage, and 
patriotism were displayed, than has been exhibited by our 
gracious sovereign." The meeting was held in Mr. 
Beardsworth's repository, and was much more numerous 
than any one hitherto called ; nothing could exceed its 
unanimity and determination. Indeed the people were now 
thoroughly roused. " I shall not" said a member of 
parliament in his place, " put forth any vaunting defiance 
of that giant power, which now sleeps, a faithful servant, at 
our feet, which has never put forth its strength, but in our 
defence, but against which, if ever it should turn in 
madness upon its masters, no defiance can avail." But 
some of the clergymen of Birmingham, thought proper to 
defy the wishes of the inhabitants, who were determined to 
have every church bell pealing with gladness on this day. 
The opposition was like the bulrush, bearing up against the 
flood, only to be bent and broken. They had locked up 
the belfries, and taken the keys away ; but the people had 
elected their own warden, who forced the doors, the bells 
soon swung merrily their joyful notes ; a general illumina- 
tion closed in the day of joy. The people were not merely 
to express their gratitude and overflow with joy; steps 
were to be taken to ensure the return of reform candiates, 
for this purpose, the council issued an address to the 
inhabitants of the United Kingdom, which, after having 
said that the king had done his duty, and that some noble- 
men had given up millions sterling in borough patronage, 
it proceeded. 

" Friends and Fellow Countrymen. By the liberty 
which our forefathers earned with their blood — by the long- 
glories of our dear country — by the duties which you owe 
to your king, your children, and yourselves —by the hoarded 
wrongs which you have endured — by the British hearts 
which you have in your bosoms — by the sufferings of 



110 HISTORY OF 

millions of your countrymen, ridden down under the hoof 
of a sordid and remorseless oligarchy — we implore you to 
come forward and discharge your duty, peacefully, legally, 
and effectually, upon this great occasion. Forget for 
awhile, all private interests, all private animosities. Let 
these be offered up on the altar of your country's safety. 
Let no violence or discord contaminate your sacred cause. 
Let no cares or occupations prevent you coming forward at 
the great call of a patriot king." 

It then called upon the electors to vote for no candidate 
not pledged to carry the bill of reform entire, and con- 
cluded by praying for the present and eternal welfare of 
the king. A meeting was also called of the electors 
resident in Birmingham, to agree upon the best means 
of carrying the bill of reform into a law of the land, 
and a deputation was appointed, to attend the Warwick 
election, to ensure the return of reform candidates ; but 
in consequence of the conduct of the union at the last 
election, none but reform candidates presented themselves, 
and members pledged to reform, were therefore returned 
without opposition. It was not only in Birmingham and 
the county of Warwick, that the union exerted itself, but 
through the whole of the kingdom ; and the intensest 
interest was felt for the success of the contest, in the 
remotest borough ; the states of the various polls were 
daily posted in the windows of the coach office, the news- 
paper offices, and even in private houses, and joy shone on 
the face of the people, when the cause of reform was seen 
to triumph over the arts of its enemies. 

Let us pause for awhile and take a concise view of the 
minor subjects upon which the council exercised its power, 
we shall here merely notice that their efforts in the burial 
ground business will be narrated in the account of St. 
Martyn's church, and proceed to give a brief narration of 
their conduct in the free school affair. When it was found 



BIRMINGHAM. Ill 

necessary to take down the old school, and erect one more 
commodious, the governors thought proper to conform to 
the will of the donor, by obtaining an act to rebuild the 
school, to instruct the children of the inhabitants of the 
town in Latin grammar. But this was generally believed to 
be a good opportunity to extend the advantages evidently 
agreeable to the intentions of the royal donor, by erecting 
a school for instructing the scholars in learning more con- 
sonant with the wants and spirits of the age. A town's 
meeting was called to have the sanction of the inhabitants 
which was necessary before the act could be obtained, when 
this plan was proposed by a deputation of the council and 
carried by a large majority, in opposition to the governors. 
The governors introduced a clause into the act disgraceful 
to themselves and unjust to the majority of the inhabi- 
tants ; a clause which made dissenters ineligible to the 
office of governors. The dissenters nobly came forward 
and fought the battle for themselves, though a deputation 
from the council ensured them the victory. The council 
also exerted themselves against the stopping of foot-paths, 
flogging in the army, the taxes on knowledge, and the 
Newtown Barry massacre. The currency also occupied 
much of their attention, indeed it was a prevailing theme 
with the chairman. Petitions were frequently sent to 
parliament, and the prime minister memorialized on the 
subject, but as their efforts led to no results, we shall not 
pursue the subject. 

October 11, 1830, a great and memorable dinner was given 
in Mr. Beardsworth's repository, to commemorate the 
recent glorious revolution in France. To those unac- 
quainted with the extent and remarkably apt accomodation 
of these magnificent premises it will appear more as a tale 
of fiction than reality, when we assert that not fewer than 
three thousand seven hundred persons sat down to dinner 
under one roof. Such, however, was the case. The 



112 



HISTORY OF 



repository is formed of three sections, of an oblong ; the 
fourth being the owner's residence and out-houses. The 
longest part of the building, the whole of which is galleried 
round, is one hundred and eight yards. On this occasion 
there were six tables running parallel the whole length, 
besides fourteen tables filling the broad area of the reposi- 
tory. The preparatory arrangements for a dinner of such 
immense magnitude were admirable ; the party was divided 
into sets, a steward being appointed to every twenty indi- 
viduals. These officers were distinguished by a neat flag, 
on the one side of which, was tastefully coloured the 
British jack ; and on the other, the French tricolour. 
The quantity of provisions, all of which were of the best 
description and quality, will afford some idea of the 
amazing extent of the dinner. Three thousand five hun- 
dred pounds of butcher's meat was placed upon the tables , 
consisting of rounds and loins of beef, fillets of veal, hams, 
legs of pork, legs of mutton, &c. Each man was allowed 
a pint of beer to dinner, and a quart of ale afterwards. 
The scene before the party took their seats, was the 
most picturesque imaginable, and strongly reminded the 
cursory observer of the mosaic pavements, as given in 
some of our old and popular pictures. The stewards, two 
hundred in number, entered the repository at twelve o'clock ; 
soon afterwards, the band took its place in the orchestra, 
having in the front about fifty glee and chorus singers. 
Thomas Attwood, Esq. entered the building about the 
same time, accompanied by many members of the council. 
At half-past one, Mr. Attwood, as chairman of the 
Union took the chair, the trumpets immediately sounded 
attention, when the whole assembly being uncovered, the 
chairman asked blessing in the following words, " God, 
we thank thee for the good things which are set before us, 
and we implore thy blessing on our righteous cause. 
When the tables were cleared, Non nobis Domine, was 



BIRMINGHAM. 1 13 

sung in the most effective style, by fifty professional 
singers ;" after which, the chairman gave " Our gracious 
Sovereign, King William the Fourth, may God prolong his 
reign, for the liberty and happiness of the people." —Song, 
" God save the King." 

The chairman again rose, and said " The 26th of July 
will be for ever memorable in the history of the world, it 
was on that day, the edicts of a tyrant were issued, and 
the French people, animated by one spirit, rose like one 
man, to vindicate the violated liberties of their country; 
their king issued one mandate, virtually abolishing their 
house of commons, and another really abolishing the liberty 
of the press." But, "in three days, the inhabitants of 
Paris, burst asunder the shackles which fifteen years of 
fraud, tyranny, and guilt, had forged for the nations of 
Europe." He then gave " Honour, gratitude, and prosperity, 
to the noble people of France." Glee and chorus " Our 
chartered rights.'" Many other patriotic toasts were given, 
and the " Union hymn," " The Marseillois hymn," " The 
Trumpet of Liberty," and "The Gathering of the Union," 
were sung. The chairman closed the meeting as follows : 
" I have made many friends, it seems, and perhaps some 
enemies. Certainly I have had a great deal to contend 
with, and have had occasion for some little nerve. Many 
of my friends endeavoured to alarm me with all manner of 
terrible representations ; they told me I should set in 
motion a tremendous principle, which no human power 
could control; that I should, like Frankenstein, create a 
monster of gigantic strength, endued with life but not with 
reason, that would hunt me about the earth to my own 
destruction. Look around, now, upon this peaceful and 
magnificent assemblage, are we not here met, all friends of 
the law, and as for me, what possible danger do I incur, I 
am like a father in the midst of a numerous family, or 
like a general surrounded by his faithful soldiers, with 

Q 



114 HISTORY OF 

none who would not follow me to death in a righteous 
cause. When the Barons of Runnymede recovered the 
liberties of England from the tyrant John, they took up 
the bow and the spear, and the battle-axe and the sword, 
and they were justified in so doing ; but our weapons are, 
union, truth, justice, and reason, our sword is the 'sword 
of the spirit,' which is the will of the people. We will 
now part with the concluding toast, 'Peace and g-oodwiil 
to all mankind.' The band played " God save the King," 
and the whole of the immense company immediately 
retired to their homes. 

At the elections, the people nobly answered the call of 
the king and his ministers. The Duke of Newcastle, who 
had formerly returned two members for Newark, and two 
for the county of Notts, at large, now found his interest 
reduced to four rotten boroughs, where no man could 
interfere with him. The Duke of Beaufort's brother and 
his eldest son, both justly popular noblemen, were thrown 
out, solely because they opposed the reform bill. The 
Duke of Rutland's nominees were rejected in his own 
county. In Northumberland, the minister's son, who had 
not ventured in the field at the former election, was 
returned, notwithstanding- the indolence of his friends. 
In short, out of eighty-two county members, seventy-six 
were returned, pledged to reform ; the members for cities 
and great towns, were for it to a man. Ireland returned a 
great majority, and even Scotland, the borough-ridden 
Scotland, returned a majority of friends to reform. 

The bill was again introduced to the commons, on the 
15th of June, and was detained by the arts of its adversaries, 
until the 22nd of the following September. The length of 
time it was detained in the commons, and the great anxiety 
for its fate, when it should reach the lords, occcasioned 
much discontent ; therefore on July the 28th, the council 
again petitioned the commons. 



BIRMINGHAM. 115 

The petitioners thought the nation had at the late 
election, returned members convinced of the necessity of 
reform. But regretted to observe, that more attention was 
paid to the frivolous objections of individuals, than to the 
wishes and determinations of an united people. 

"Your petitioners have observed with disgust and 
indignation, the factious and puerile opposition made to 
the opinions of a majority of your honourable house, and 
to the demands of an oppressed and insulted people ; and 
with feelings of a nearly similar character, they contrast 
the rapidity with which measures of penalty and spoliation 
have been enacted by former parliaments, with the extra- 
ordinary tardiness at present displayed, in completing a 
wholesome and healing measure of wisdom, justice, and 
conciliation." The petition also reminded the house, that 
the distress of the nation required immediate attention, 
and effectual remedies, which could not be enacted so long 
as an interested minority were allowed to offer an obstinate 
and factious opposition to the majority. They therefore 
strenuously urged the commons to observe a dispatch 
demanded by justice and the will of a mighty nation. 

The Tories were highly chagrined at the large 
majorities by which every effort of theirs was defeated. 
They were continually calling upon the ministers to 
prosecute and abolish the unions ; they could not even 
allow the minister to acknowledge the thanks of the 
unionists, without calling the proceeding in question. 
" The Birmingham Political Union," said Sir Charles 
Wetherell, " doubtless a very respectable body of men, 
had addressed a letter to the noble lord ; he was very sorry 
to observe that the prime minister of this country had 
recognised such a body. Might he be permitted to ask the 
quoters of Selden and other great constitutional authorities, 
whether it was the practice of the times to which they 
referred, for the first minister of the crown to recognise and 



lift HISTORY OF 

acknowledge an usurping body of men, a self-consti- 
tuted corporation." Earl Grey, was also accused, in the 
other house, of the same " impropriety ;" but he answered, 
that the unions were in existence when he came into 
power, and if they were the dangerous and illegal bodies 
represented, they should have been crushed in their 
infancy and not have been allowed to gather strength 
and maturity. 

The bill had passed the commons by a large majority, 
and the people anxiously followed its progress to the lords, 
into whose house it was introduced immediately. The 
council saw it was time to be up and doing, and a great 
meeting was called of the inhabitants of the town and 
neighbourhood, to be held on Newhall Hill, a large piece 
of vacant ground, in the northern suburbs of the town, 
between the Parade, Camden Street, Albion Street, Gra- 
ham Street, &c, for the purpose of demonstrating to the 
house of lords, the enthusiasm so generally entertained for 
the bill, and to petition them to pass it without delay. 
The ground upon which the meeting was held consists of 
twelve acres of rising ground, in the form of an amphi- 
theatre ; the scene was peculiarly animating and picturesque, 
numerous banners waved above the heads of one hundred 
thousand human beings, twenty thousand of whom came 
from Staffordshire, to express the same enthusiasm and 
anxiety as the Birmingham Union. " I have been told," 
said Mr. Attwood, " that with all my immense power I shall 
not be able to control the oligarchs, but I answer, we will get 
two hundred thousand strings, we will place each of those 
strings in the hands of a strong and brave man, and we 
will twist those -strings into a thousand ropes, and twist 
those ropes into one immense cable, and by means of that 
cable will put a hook into the nose of the leviathan, and 
guide and govern him at pleasure. We have united 
two millions peaceably and legally, in one grand and 



BIRMINGHAM. 117 

determined association to recover the liberty, happiness, 
and prosperity of the country, and I should like to know 
what power there is in England, that can resist a power 
like this. It has been said, that for a nation to be free, it 
is sufficient that she wills it. Who can look around on this 
immense and magnificent, assemblage, in the very heart of 
England, where the English blood is pure and uncontam- 
inated with foreign alloy, and doubt that the nation wills 
that the reform bill shall pass." If this language was not 
sufficient to induce the lords to gratify the desires of the 
people, threats of a more daring character were made as 
additional incentives. One speaker expressed his deter- 
mination that if all other means failed, he would pay no 
more taxes until the bill became law, and the mighty 
multitude immediately and spontaneously echoed the 
sentiment. No concessions had ever been made to the 
people, until they unequivocally declared that they would 
wrest those rights from their rulers, they so unjustly with- 
held. The meeting affirmed, that if all other legal means 
were unsuccessful, they would adopt the decision of Black- 
stone, and have arms for their defence. " The peers will 
find to their unavailing sorrow," said one of the speakers, 
" that if the lords will not pass the bill, the bill will pass the 
lords ; they will find in fact, that we can spare peers infi- 
nitely better than our heart's blood." One of the arguments 
made use of by the advocates of the bill, was, that its 
rejection would occasion a revolution, " We have been 
told," said Lord Wharncliffe, " that the passing of this bill, 
is the only way to prevent a revolution. It might be 
more justly said, that passing it under the present circum- 
stances, was the very way to create a revolution." After 
reading the above extract, he proceeded " Here is a man, 
who dares the lords to refuse to pass the bill. The whole 
tenor of the language applies to physical force. Revolution 
is not only threatened, but begun." " Were we to condemn 



118 HISTORY OF 

the whole," answered Lord Brougham, " because one 
individual used intemperate language, if this were the 
case, what was to be said of the house of lords, when ]ast 
night language grossly intemperate, — language, which 
violated every principle of law, — language, which held out 
threats, not merely of sedition, but of something' very like 
capital felony, had been used within the walls of that 
house ?" At the meeting, a petition to the house of lords, 
imploring them to pass the bill, was adopted, and votes of 
thanks passed by acclamation to his majesty's ministers, 
for their manly and patriotic conduct ; and at the conclusion 
of the business, Mr. Attwood called upon the vast mul- 
titude to repeat after him, " God bless the king," it was 
done heartily and fervently. The people then retired to 
their several homes. During the discussion on the 
motion for the second reading in the lords, a discussion 
which was characterised by extraordinary vehemence, the 
people manifested the most intense anxiety ; for four days 
they surrounded the newspaper offices, waiting the arrival 
of the London papers, and anxiously canvassed the proba- 
bilities for and against their cherished hopes. On the 
evening of October 8th, no papers came by the early 
coaches ; the feverish state of the public mind became 
more alarming, if two persons began a conversation upon 
the subject, crowds immediately surrounded them, and 
those who were too distant to hear the discussion, ran 
from group to group, until they obtained a situation near 
the principal speakers. A pithy expression or a deep 
curse, would now and then betray the subdued and intense 
feelings of the hearers. A shout would arise from one of 
the groups, hundreds would run and surround the group 
which sent forth the cheer. Presently, persons came 
and said that there was a man reading a paper at Nelson's 
monument, a simultaneous rush immediately took place, 
and there, their worst anticipations were verified, the 



BIRMINGHAM. 119 

funeral knell sent its dismal tone over the town, verifying 
the gloomy things which had come to pass, and fearfully 
alarming the public mind. The second reading was lost by 
a majority of forty-one. The crowds for that night quietly 
retired to their several homes. The morning- light found 
the black flag flying from the highest pinnacles in the 
town, the churches hung out the same dismal signal. 

Deep regret and bitter disappointment, was felt by the 
inhabitants, at the rejection of the bill, but though disap- 
pointed, they were not east down, they presented a nobler 
front, and a sterner determination to carry the measure 
upon which they had set their affections. The question 
was anxiously agitated, whether they should then draw the 
sword, or resume the attitude they had apparently uselessly 
presented, but this time more majestically ; despair was a 
stranger to their bosoms. They asked the noble head of 
the opponent band, where would have been the ducal 
coronet, which now pressed his brows, had Englishmen 
known despair ? It was also asked, who were the lords, 
that they should thus step in between the people and their 
just expectations, and ruin the hopes they had so long and 
anxiously cherished ? What were four hundred and twenty 
lords before twenty millions of people, who at a single word, 
were ready to march forward and crush them to pieces ? 
Some of them were men of large property, but their property, 
compared with that of the people, was as dust in the balance ; 
why, then, should they be allowed to endanger the wealth 
of the country ? Of the enormous load of taxes borne by 
this tax-laden people, the merest fraction of a fraction was 
borne by them, while themselves, their dependents, and 
relations, fattened upon the imposts wrung from an op- 
pressed and ruined people ; and were not contented, but must 
sneer at the "philosophy of Birmingham and Sheffield." 
The spiritual lords endured the greater part of public odium, 
they were appointed by the law to preach peace and good- 



120 HTSTORY OF 

will to all men, and it would better become them to descend 
from their high places, "where power dwells amid her 
passions," to visit the poor man, to console his sorrows and 
heal his broken heart, than mix up in political intrigues, 
from which no man retires unstained. But the people will 
soon learn that the bishops, who gave the casting- vote 
against the reform bill, yearly receive from their purses, 
£528,698, and knowing this, will say, need we continue to 
pay them ? It was further said, that some of them 
received their elevation, for preaching the courtly doctrine 
" that kings can do no wrong ;" others, as rewards for 
political pamphlets in aid of a falling cause, and some 
were elevated at the recommendation of an amorous 
courtezan. These things, as well as the systematic opposi- 
tion of nearly the whole corporation of spiritual lords, to 
the constitutional rights of the people, their rooted attach- 
ment to corrupt and corrupting institutions, and political 
disregard of that holy religion, of which they claim to be 
pre-eminently the ministers, justly deprived them of the 
national respect. 

Every one but the infatuated opposition, perceived the 
alarming state of the public mind. " I beg to acknow- 
ledge," said Lord John Russell, in his letter to Attwood, 
"with heartfelt gratitude, the undeserved honour done me 
by one hundred and fifty thousand of my countrymen. 
Our prospects are now obscured for a moment, but I trust 
only for a moment, it is impossible that the whisper of 
faction should prevail against the voice of a nation." Lord 
Althorp, after having acknowledged the thanks, said, " I 
beseech you to use all your influence, not merely to prevent 
any act of open violence, but any such resistance to the law, 
as is threatened by the refusal to pay taxes." " It is with 
the deepest sorrow," wrote one of the members for the 
county, " I confirm what you have already heard from other 
sources, that the second reading of the reform bill was 



BIRMINGHAM 121 

rejected in the house of lords this morning, by a majority 
of forty-one. God grant, that in the anguish of disappoint- 
ment, the people may not forget that the observance of 
tranquility and order, is the surest, safest, and best way of 
effecting the great purpose which we seek and will have." 
The dark heavings of the public mind, to an experienced 
eye, manifested the dreadful severity of the coming storm, 
which it became the duty of every good man and sincere 
patriot to avert. Mr. Attwood issued the following address, 
which acted like magic in stilling the public rage : — 
"Friends and Fellow Countrymen. The bill of reform 
is rejected by the house of lords : Patience ! patience ! 
patience ! Our beloved king is firm ; his ministers are 
firm ; the house of commons is firm ; the whole nation is 
firm ; what then have the people to fear ? Nothing ; unless 
their own violence should rashly lead to anarchy, and place 
difficulties in the way of the king and his ministers. 
Therefore there must be no violence ; the people are too 
strong to require violence. By peace, by law, and by order, 
every one must rally round the throne of his king. The 
small majority of the lords will soon come to a sense of the 
duty which they owe to their country, and to the king ; or 
some other means will be devised of carrying the bill of 
reform into a law without delay. Fellow countrymen, be 
patient, be peaceable, be strictly obedient to the law, and 
every thing is safe. God bless the King." 

Owing- to the firmness of the king, his ministers, and the 
house of commons, the decision of the lords was received 
by the people, except in two or three isolated cases, without 
any alarming bursts of violence. At Derby the rabble 
broke open the jail, and demolished the property of some 
anti-reformers, and were only prevented from the perpetra- 
tion of further violence by the military. The castle at 
Nottingham, the property of the Duke of Newcastle, was 
burned by a band of rioters. Some disturbances took place 



122 HISTORY OF 

in Somersetshire and Devonshire. At Bristol, the arrival 
of Sir Charles Wetherell, a strenuous anti-reformer, to 
discharge his judicial duties, excited a popular ferment, 
which being- at first met on the part of the magistrates 
with precipitate violence, and afterwards by cowardly 
supineness, hurried the populace on to works of extensive 
destruction. In every other part of the kingdom, however, 
large meetings were held, and obedience to the law 
enforced. 

The parliament was prorogued by the king in person, on 
the 18th of October. In his speech on the occasion, he 
said, " The anxiety which has been so generally manifested 
for the accomplishment of a constitutional reform in the 
commons' house of parliament, will, I trust, be regulated by 
a due sense of the necessity of order and moderation in 
their proceedings. To the consideration of this important 
question, the attention of parliament must necessarily be 
directed at the opening of the ensuing- session ; and you 
may be assured of my unaltered desire to prosecute its 
settlement, by such improvements in the representation as 
may be found necessary for securing to my people the full 
enjoyment of their rights, which in combination with the 
other orders of the state, are essential to the support of our 
free constitution." At this time the eye of all England 
was directed to the movements and intentions of one man, 
and to the proceedings of the Birmingham Political Union, 
the work of his hands. The gigantic hold they had obtained 
upon public feeling and public confidence, and the 
important station for good or for evil they occupied among 
the people of the United Kingdom, were viewed with the 
most intense interest. In their hands were the liberties 
and destinies of this great country. Though the irritation 
at the rejection of the bill had subsided, it was not allayed; 
the council therefore issued another address, in substance 
as follow s : — 



BIRMINGHAM. 123 

" Our gracious king- has again nobly come forward in our 
extreme need, regardless of opposition, and sent the house 
of lords into the midst of the people to learn their duty. 
Lord Grey has declared that the bill of reform shall become 
law, therefore we will stand by him, and if, by any possi- 
bility, he should be driven from power, we will carry him 
back on the shoulders of the people ; the king, the ministers, 
the house of commons, and the people are all united, and 
nothing can break this holy league but discord ; therefore 
be firm and united. At the same time you show your 
confidence in ministers ; come forward with union and 
determination, and express your will, and that will is cer- 
tain to become the law of the land; yet place your confidence 
in the king and his ministers, until they shall deceive you. 
The lords have obtained a temporary triumph, but by the 
power of the king- and the law, we will humble them in the 
dust. We will have our barricades without violence or the 
shedding of blood, and accomplish a more glorious revolu- 
tion, than any recorded in the history of the world." 

Tt was reported to the council, that several Tory lords 
and gentlemen, were purchasing arms and ammunition, 
and generally fortifying their mansions ; it was therefore 
proposed to organize the union, for the purpose of preserving 
the peace of the town, protecting the lives and property of 
individuals, and defending the government and liberty of 
the nation. A very efficient plan was matured and about 
to be adopted, when the chairman introduced Mr. Parkes, 
a gentleman who did the council and the town much 
sterling service ; and he, in a long, able, and luminous 
speech, proved the illegality of the proposed organization, 
it was therefore abandoned. The next day made known 
how narrowly they had escaped the fangs of the law, a 
proclamation being plentifully posted about the town, 
denouncing the plan, and declaring it to be illegal. Its 
mere contemplation had a wonderful effect upon the public 



124 HISTORY OF 

in general. The 'lories, by their loud denouncement of 
the union, and their gross misrepresentations, betrayed 
their extreme fear of that body. These misrepresentations 
were for some time despised, but by being frequently 
repeated, they began to be believed. The council, there- 
fore, thought proper to issue a declaration ot their objects 
and intentions, to remove the odium which had lavishly 
been heaped upon them. Further to counteract the effect, 
an address was presented to the council, signed by forty 
thousand members of the union, thanking them for the 
excellent legal and successful manner, in which they had 
conducted the union through the perils which every where 
beset their path. 

Those unfortunate men, who had been so far enraged at 
the conduct of the anti-reformers, as to lose all command of 
themselves, and to riot and destroy the property, and 
endanger the lives of their opposers, had been tried by 
special commissions, and some of them condemned to 
suffer the highest penalty the law awarded. The council 
lamented the severity of the punishment, and thought 
proper to present a petition on their behalf, nearly as 
follows. 

The petition of the council to the king, on behalf of 
the Bristol and Nottingham rioters, in which they dis- 
claimed any intention to justify or excuse the crimes and 
outrages which were then committed, but they could not 
conceal the fact, that if the peculiar and unhappy 
situation in which the country was placed, at the period 
when these riots occurred, is taken into consideration, 
circumstances will appear, which, though they cannot in 
any degree justify, may, perhaps, tend to palliate the 
guilt of the wretched criminals left for execution. " Owing 
to a reckless and obstinate opposition, on the part of the 
advocates of the present corrupt system of parliamentary 
representation, to the wise and patriotic intentions of 



BIRMINGHAM. 125 

your Majesty's ministers, the people had been kept for 
many months in a state of the most intense and agitating 
anxiety; they had centered all their fondest hopes of 
peace, prosperity, and happiness, on the passing into law 
of the bill of reform ; and at the very hour when they 
deemed the immediate accomplishment of those hopes 
certain, the cup of promise was suddenly and rudely 
dashed from their lips, and, in the disappointment of the 
moment, they rashly gave way to despair." 

" Considering the state of the public mind, and the 
iujuries and insults the people had suffered, it was hoped 
his Majesty would make allowance for the feeling which 
hurried them into atrocities, from which, had they have 
had time for reflection, they would have shrunk with 
horror." The council could not help making the same 
distinction between crimes committed in such a state of 
excitement, as the law wisely made between manslaughter 
and murder. 

" We would venture also to represent to your Majesty, 
that, in our humble opinion, however much it may, 
unfortunately, be at variance with the present state of 
the law, the broad principle of justice requires that man's 
life should only be forfeited in the atonement of crime, 
which affects the life of man. Although it is contended, 
that severity of punishment is necessary to ensure respect 
for the law, we cannot but think there is such an im- 
measurable distance, in point of guilt, between crimes 
which affect property only, that any policy which tends 
to equalize, in any degree, the punishments of the two 
kinds of offence, is not only in principle unjust, but is 
in such direct contradiction to all the ideas and feelings 
of the great bulk of the community, as to create sympathy 
instead of repugnance towards the criminals, to convert, in 
some degree, culprits into martyrs ; and thus mainly to 



126 HISTORY OF 

defeat the only object of punishment, the enforcing 
obedience to the laws. 

"We humbly pray your Majesty to take these facts 
and representations, into your Majesty's gracious considera- 
tion, and we cannot but express our anxious hope, that 
your Majesty's wisdom may deem it consistent with the 
ends of justice, to remit the extreme penalty of the 
law, and to inflict some minor punishment upon the 
unhappy criminals in question, more consistent with the 
dictates of huuianity, and with the gracious and benevolent 
sentiments of your Majesty's paternal heart." 

It could not be seriously believed that the foregoing 
petition could meet with that attention it deserved, in the 
critical state of the public mind. It did not divert the 
course of justice from its usual channels. 

About this time several anonymous donations were 
received by the council to large amounts, all bearing the 
London post mark. 

Parliament was re-assembled on the 6th of December, 
and on the 12th of the same month, the bill was again 
introduced to the house of commons ; though the bill was 
essentially the same as that formerly rejected, it was 
acknowledged by all parties to be its superior in precision of 
expression, and the minor details, all of which improvements 
the Tories modestly assumed as theirs. Notwithstanding 
that the reform members were silent, and left the debate 
almost entirely to the anti-reformers, the bill was kept in 
the commons by various arts, until the 26th of March in 
the following year. The council again petitioned the 
commons to observe a dispatch commensurate with the 
importance of the measure, and the expectations of the 
people ; and their jealousy was excited by observing some 
tampering with the ten-pound clause ; inconsistent with the 
professions of the ministers ; a memorial was immediately 



BIRMINGHAM. 127 

dispatched to Earl Grey, explaining the evils of the clause ; 
and the number of persons in large towns who would be 
disfranchised by its restrictions. Their exertions occasioned 
the introduction of a clause which empowered the ten- 
pound householder to have his name inserted in the grand 
levy book, he paying the rates instead of his landlord ; 
this was some improvement, though the main objection to 
the bill remained. 

The bill finally passed the commons as above stated, on 
the 26th of March, and was followed to the lords with even 
more gloomy anticipations than in the preceding sessions. 
No new peers had been created, and the opposition appeared 
as stern and inflexible as ever. The first reading passed 
without much discussion ; and the second reading was 
anticipated with the most intense anxiety. Groups of 
people assembled in various parts of the town, keenly 
discussing the conduct of the lords, and the probable 
consequences of the second rejection of the bill. Many thou- 
sands of a pamphlet, entitled Defensive Instructions for the 
People, with other books on the use of fire-arms and weapons 
of defence were sold, and the council sat daily, ready to act 
as the emergency required. But before the second reading 
came on, Lords Harrowby and Wharncliffe determined to 
make a concession to the people, by permitting the second 
reading to pass, with the intention of " improving" the bill 
in committee ; it was therefore carried by a majority of 
nine, and afforded some relief to the deep anxiety of the 
people. 

The anti-reformers began to console themselves with the 
idea that a reaction had taken place in the public mind ; 
they not only consoled themselves, but began to make use 
of the opinion as an argument for making " such alterations 
in the bill, as should prevent it destroying our glorious 
constitution . " To disprove this belief, the council determined 
to display a magnificent effect of public enthusiasm. A 



128 HISTORY OF 

meeting was accordingly called for Monday, May the 6th, 
to be held on Newhall Hill, the place so frequently conse- 
crated to British liberty. 

So early as Saturday, the population of the town began 
to evince symptoms of great excitement, and on Sunday, 
the roads leading to Birmingham, but more especially the 
northern roads, showed that the attendance from distant 
parts of the country would be immense. Some thousands 
arrived in the course of that day, many of whom came 
from the extremities of the counties of Worcester, Stafford, 
and Gloucester ; before day-break on Monday all was bustle 
and preparation. The previous arrangements made by the 
council, were in themselves admirable, and were executed 
with precision and punctuality by the various gentlemen 
to whom they were entrusted. By eight o'clock A.M. the 
persons appointed to conduct the unions of the various 
towns in the neighbourhood, that intended visiting the 
meeting, repaired to their respective stations, on the roads, 
each mounted on horseback, and decorated or distinguished 
by a broad sash of office, embroidered with the union jack. 
Between nine and twelve, the various unions entered 
Birmingham, all being preceded by bands of music, and 
exhibiting- flags, upon which where inscribed various pa- 
triotic devices and mottos. Many of these Unions having 
arrived at the rooms in Great Charles Street, and the 
programme being all arranged, shortly before twelve o'clock 
the immense multitude, headed by Thomas Attwood, 
Esq., and preceded by the Birmingham Union band, 
in their superb uniform, proceeded to the place of meeting. 
Looking from the top of Mount Street, up Newhall Street, 
the spectacle from the countless myriads of which it was 
composed, and the splendid devices and colours which it 
exhibited, was truly magnificent. On arriving at Newhall 
Hill the ground was found completely pre-occupied, and the 
tops of the houses, as far as the eye could range, appeared, 



BIRMINGHAM. t29 

as completely covered with human beings. The meeting- 
was the most magnificent spectacle ever beheld. At one 
time there were two hundred thousand people on the 
ground; at an appropriate distance, on the ridge of the 
hill, were numerous banners, among which, in the centre, 
waved the royal standard, and at distant intervals were seen 
the banners of the Coventry, Warwick, Wolverhampton, 
Darlaston, Wedensbury, Walsall, Alcester, Broomsgrove, 
Studley, Stratford-on- Avon, Redditch, and Shirley Unions. 
The grand northern division was estimated at one hundred 
thousand persons ; the procession was four miles in length, 
having one hundred banners, and eleven bands of music ; 
the grand western division was two miles in length, and 
estimated at twenty-five thousand, and exhibited seventy 
banners ; the eastern division consisted of five thousand 
persons, with thirty banners ; and the southern, of ten 
thousand, with twelve banners and six bands of music. 
The above estimates are exclusive of the immense numbers 
who attended the meeting from Birmingham. An inci- 
dent occurred during the meeting which manifested the 
deep feeling which exists for unhappy Poland ; the Count 
Napoleon Czapski was recognised among the crowd, by an 
Irish gentleman, of the Dublin press, who introduced him 
to a member of the political council. Among the banners 
displayed at the meeting, there was one from Wolver- 
hampton inscribed, f- A Tear for Poland," Czapski little 
expected that at a meeting for reform, anything would be 
displayed in favour of Poland, whether of regret or sorrow. 
His name however was announced to the meeting, and the 
banner was presented to him, he was sensibly affected ; 
he knew that the inscription expressed something in favour 
of his unhappy country, but did not know the meaning of 
the word tea?' ; his heart, as he afterwards expressed himself, 
was more sensible than his head, he wept, and instinctively 
dried his eyes with that banner on which was inscribed 



130 HISTORY OF 

the simple but beautiful sentiment. But to the meeting. 
The Tories had for some time endeavoured to persuade 
themselves, that a reaction had taken place in the public 
mind, that the zeal which had so long existed in favour of 
the bill, had worn out ; how such an opinion, for it could 
not have matured to belief, could have obtained among 
them, it would be difficult to determine. They were, as 
Mr. Muntz said, never satisfied ; " If you are silent, they 
represent you as indifferent ; if active, they say you 
threaten them ; if few in numbers, you are contemptible ; 
if numerous, then dangerous, and they call upon govern- 
ment to interfere ; in fact, they resemble the man who 
never was satisfied when beaten at chess, he always 
made some objection to the manner in which it was done, 
whether he received checkmate from queen, castle, bishop, 
knight, or pawn, he was always discontented." The 
numbers and determination of the meeting, at once 
dissipated the idea of reaction, if it were ever seriously 
entertained. At the commencement of the meeting, at 
the sound of a trumpet, which was used as the signal 
of silence, the following spirit-stirring composition was 
thundered forth by thousands of voices : 

Lo ! we answer, see, we come, 

Quick at freedom's holy call, 

We come, we come, we come, we come, 

To do the glorious work of all : 

And hark ! we raise, from sea to sea, 

The sacred watchword — Liberty. 

God is our guide, from field, from wave, 
From plough, from anvil, and from loom, 
We come, our country's rights to save, 
And speak a tyrant faction's doom : 
And hark ! we raise, from sea to sea, 
The sacred watchword — Liberty. 



BIRMINGHAM. 131 

God is our guide — no sword we draw ; 
We kindle not war's battle fires ; 
By union, justice, reason, law, 
We claim the birthright of our sires ; 
We raise the watchword — Liberty, 
We will, we will, we will be free. 

From the conduct of the lords, when the bill was in 
their house before, the council had determined never 
again to petition them on the subject. But the silence 
they had maintained, which arose entirely from disgust 
and indignation at the treatment they had received, was 
called lukewarmness and indifference. " The people were 
really like greyhounds on the slip, if the king should give 
the word, or the council give the word under his authority, 
the grandest scene would be exhibited, the world ever 
saw." "Hitherto," said Mr. Attwood, "our exertions 
have been confined in direct operation to this town and 
neighbourhood. Suppose, now, we should erect the 
standard of the Birmingham Union in London, that 
glorious standard which acts so terrifically upon his Grace 
the Duke of Buckingham, I can tell you, and I can tell 
his Grace, that if we should so act, nine-tenths of the 
whole population of that immense city, would instantly 
rally round the sacred emblem of their country's freedom ; 
the same would be the case in Newcastle, Manchester, 
Glasgow, and Dublin, the whole of the British people 
would answer to the call, wherever the standard of the 
Birmingham Union should be unfurled, under the sanction 
of the king and the law." 

An address had already been presented, signed by 
three thousand householders in Wolverhampton, and 
another from Bilston, expressing their willingness to 
brave any perils, at the command of the council. " But 
the lords will not dare again to throw out the bill ; if they 
do," said Mr. Edmonds, "let them take lessons in dancing, 



132 HISTORY OF 

and have their duchesses instructed in washing, that they 
may have honest means of procuring their livelihoods 
when they get to the continent." For " I put it to you," 
said Mr. Attwood, " whether you would not rather die, 
than be the slaves of the boroughmongers ;" the answer 
left no doubt of the intentions of the people. " Of what 
value," said one of the organs of the Tories, "are the 
threats of the people: if the Duke of Wellington's 
artillery waggon-drivers only were put in motion, they 
would drive the people of England before them with their 
stirrup leathers." " Would they," said the Times news- 
paper, "if the Duke of Wellington were insane enough 
to put foot in stirrup against the people of England, he 
would find it the toughest piece of work he ever cut out 
for himself; he and his partizans might boast, while 
putting their armour on, but truly their boast would be 
small, when they came to take it off." The Tories might 
taunt the people with cowardice, but, in moments of 
reflection, they bitterly regretted that their taunts bore 
not the semblance of truth. What ! had those people 
who had heretofore brought the opponents of their liberty 
low, degenerated? had those people, who displayed a 
terrible example of their justice in the fate of Strafford, 
and Charles the First, so far lost the spirit of their fore- 
fathers, as to bend with pusillanimity and cowardice, before 
the petty obstructions now opposed to their wishes ? No ; 
the same spirit which animated their brave progenitors at 
Marston Moor, at Dunbar, and Worcester, still glowed 
within their breasts with primitive ardour, and that the 
darling of the Tories full well knew — he had seen them 
brave fire, the sword, and the terrible engines of slaughter. 
At Salamanca, Cuidad Roderigo, Vittoria, and Waterloo, 
the chosen veterans of a thousand victories, bowed before 
the stern courage of the British soldier; then, did the 
soldier's uniform act as a magic mantle, giving firmness to 



BIRMINGHAM. 133 

hearts of fear, or was this amazing courage an ingredient 
in the British character, which no time could annihilate, 
no obstruction break ? 

" Our motto," said Mr. Attwood, " in the peaceful and 
legal contest in which we are engaged, shall be that of the 
immortal Hampden's, ' Vestigia nulla retrorswri' or, in 
plain English, 'No retreat.'" "But," said another 
speaker, "if we are to have Polignac, it shall be with 
Pol ignac's fate." " God forbid," said Mr. Parkes, "that I 
should incite you to the last resort of a civil and physical 
contention for your liberties as Englishmen, for who can 
contemplate the channels of industry choked up in this 
vast ocean of manufacturing labour, without discerning 
that this generation would make a tremendous sacrifice 
for posterity. But I solemnly warn, I implore, the 
house of lords, not to force the reformers to a civil contest. 
If they do throw out the reform bill, one of two events 
must follow — more lords or none." Towards the close of 
the meeting, Mr. Salt called upon the assembled multi- 
tudes to repeat after him, in the face of heaven, and in the 
presence of the God of justice and mercy, with deep and 
solemn determination, the following pledge : " In unbroken 
faith, through every peril, and trial, and privation, we 
devote ourselves and our children to our country's cause." 
It was an awful sight to see two hundred thousand brave 
men thus swear to meet the dark and perilous times 
apparently approaching. "My good friends," said Mr. 
Attwood, with that devotional feeling which was always 
exposing " the milk of human kindness" which so 
eminently characterises him, " My good friends, before we 
depart, I will call upon you again to exhibit a spectacle of 
loyalty and devotion : our good King is entitled to the 
deepest gratitude of his people, I therefore desire that 
you will all of you take off your hats, and that you will 
lift up your eyes to heaven, where the just God rules over 



13 1 HISTORY OF 

heaven and earth, and that you will all of you cry out, 
with one heart and one voice, " God bless the King ;" the 
united prayer arose to heaven, with a noise like the first 
clap of thunder. 

The vast assemblage then began to leave the ground. 
The Unions of the neighbouring towns gathering their 
scattered members together, and arranging- them beneath 
their banners. The bands belonging to each company 
playing lively and patriotic airs, and the whole crowd 
marshalling into procession, and joining- the long line of 
the retiring multitude, that extending into beautiful array, 
at length melted into distance, far beyond the extremest 
point which could be reached by the strongest vision. 
The morning- dawned upon the town of Birmingham 
without a single indication of the fact, that the largest 
and most important meeting ever held in England, had 
concentrated the united attention of two hundred thousand 
human beings on the previous day. Though the people 
were thus openly at work, their enemies were no less 
secretly determined to "improve" the bill. Earl Grey, 
unconscious of the mine which was about to spring 
beneath his feet, moved in a committee of the lords, the 
clause disfranchising all boroughs below the specified amount 
of population. Lord Lyndhurst moved, as an amendment, 
that the disfranchising clauses be deferred until the amount 
of enfranchisement was determined ; the opposition fully 
unmasked their intentions by the unusual care they 
manifested to justify their proceedings, and the employ- 
ment of many evidently ostensible arguments ; their object 
was, by enfranchising the population of large towns, so far 
to reduce the popular fervour in favour of the bill, as to 
enable them to retain the same power over the commons, 
house as heretofore, by the retention of the rotten 
boroughs. But Earl Grey had staked too much of his 
fame on carrying the bill entire, and too clearly foresaw 



BIRMINGHAM. 135 

that his party never could retain the reins of power, if 
the house of commons were not completely emancipated 
from the influence of the lords. Besides, the lords never 
would forgive him for this attempt to make the people's 
house free, and their own the " register office for the acts 
of the commons ;" he therefore stood manfully forward in 
defence of his own motion, but found himself defeated, by 
a majority of thirty-five. As soon as the result of the 
division was known, he moved the adjournment of the 
house, and the opposition, by their great anxiety to 
" explain," betrayed an extreme fear of their own actions. 
The news of this division was carried with unexampled 
and surprising celerity, to all parts of the empire, nothing 
could exceed the bitter indignation with which it was 
universally received ; if there were any glad of the informa- 
tion, they kept their joy concealed. In Birmingham, the 
population had long been anxiously waiting the arrival of 
the London coaches, and when they arrived, nothing could 
exceed the fierceness of feeling with which the intelligence 
they brought, was received ; their passions were wound 
up to the highest pitch of unvented public rage, had it 
been the seat of government, it must have been a brave 
and a majestic force, which could have prevented a terrible 
revolution. Business immediately ceased, men's minds 
were unfitted for business ; their passions so far disturbed 
the coolness of judgment, that they could not rationally 
think nor discourse on the subject which had disturbed 
their temper. In the middle of the night, an express 
arrived, with the still more unwelcome intelligence that 
the ministers had resigned, and the king had been 
pleased to accept their resignations. Until this moment, 
his majesty had been the most popular individual in the 
realm, had any one dared to impugn the uprightness of 
his proceedings, there were hundreds who would undertake 
his defence ; but of a sudden, none were so unpopular. 



136 



HISTORY OF 



By an early hour the next morning, the " King's head/' 
(which had been the attractive sign of many a public 
house), was either entirely removed, or turned upside 
down, and the Queen's endured a more ignominious fate, 
as she was believed to have influenced the King- against 
the rights and liberties of the people. As soon as the 
resignation of ministers became generally known, more 
dignified means were sought to manifest the popular dis- 
pleasure ; as early as eight o'clock, some thousands had 
assembled before the union rooms, cheering the different 
members of the council as they arrived. By ten o'clock, 
the whole of the council had assembled, and were in 
anxious deliberation ; numbers of deputies were constantly 
arriving from various parts of the kingdom, to receive 
instructions how to act in their several districts. The 
crowds before the rooms rapidly increased; presently, a 
deafening shout arose, which was continued for some 
time. A paper was exhibited in a window in the neigh- 
bourhood, making the following announcement, " No taxes 
paid here until the reform bill is passed." A movement 
took place at the other end of the multitude, and a cheer 
burst forth, which was instantly answered by the 
whole crowd. Five hundred of the most wealthy in- 
habitants of the town and neighbourhood, walked in 
procession to the council room, with the following declara- 
tion ; " We, the undersigned inhabitants of the town and 
neighbourhood of Birmingham, who have hitherto refrained 
from joining the Political Union, deem it our duty to our 
country at this awful crisis, to come forward and join that 
body, for the purpose of promoting the further union, 
order, and determination of all classes, in support of the 
common cause of parliamentary reform." Great numbers 
were daily signing this declaration. The cheering had not 
subsided, which attended the arrival of the subscribers to 
this document, ere a member of the council belonging to a 



BIRMINGHAM. 137 

faith prevalent in the "sister island," appeared at the 
window, and shortly addressed the people. At the con- 
clusion of his address, he said, " Fellow countrymen, be 
silent for awhile, the council are devising means to put the 
government into the hands of the people ;" the cheering 
which burst forth at this announcement, was more loud and 
vehement than any which preceded it. The people still 
continued increasing, and it became necessary to adjourn 
to another place, or give some directions to cause the 
people to disperse; at twelve o'clock, the people were 
again addressed by one of the council ; they were cautioned 
strictly to obey the laws, and not to give way to gloomy 
feelings upon the occasion ; things certainly did not wear 
the most lovely aspect, still there was enough to assure 
the careful and thoughtful observer, that the present defeat 
was but the prelude to a certain and extensive victory. 
" Therefore it is requested that you will all go to your 
several homes for the present, and tell your brothers, your 
friends, and your neighbours, that a meeting will be held 
on Newhall Hill, at three o'clock, to take into considera- 
tion, what measures are to be adopted in this alarming 
crisis. Fellow countrymen, it is particularly requested 
that all the members of the Political Union, and all the 
friends of reform and of the liberties of their country, 
will wear a. ribbon of the union jack sewn upon their 
breasts, and until the jack can be obtained, that they will 
wear a blue ribbon ; and it is particularly desired, that it 
may not be taken off until the bill of reform is become 
law. Like brothers, come arm in arm, wearing a noble 
aspect as men going to an assured victory." 

A number of carrier's waggons were immediately drawn 
to Newhall Hill, to form a temporary hustings. By two 
o'clock, the people again began to assemble, they came 
arm in arm, from ten to fifteen abreast, with the union 
jack or blue ribbon sewn on their breast. Only one medal 

T 



138 HISTORY OF 

was seen among one hundred thousand people ; and that, 
as soon as the obnoxious legend " God save the King," 
was pointed out to the wearer, was thrown ignominiously 
away. The banners were immediately arranged for the 
procession, and that which had formerly borne the 
British lion rousing himself from slumber, was changed ; 
the lion was seen thoroughly roused, and springing forward 
to the inevitable destruction of his foes. The banners 
and people were soon marshalled in the order of procession ; 
the spectacle was far more imposing than that on Monday, 
it wore less of the appearance of a holiday exhibition, 
and seemed more like men determined to carry their 
point, or endure the extremity of human suffering. When 
the procession arrived at the hill, the rush to obtain places 
in the neighbourhood of the speakers, was terrific, and 
even upon the brow of the hill, far away from the speakers, 
the press was alarming. The speakers began to address 
the meeting, when the people universally inquired, "What 
are we to do ?" to (f Observe the same peace, order, and 
legality, which has carried you triumphant through all 
your proceedings," was the answer. " Are we always to 
live upon this?" was the rejoinder; they were told that 
all legal means had not been tried, the power lodged in 
the commons' house had yet to be exerted ; " Let the 
house of commons refuse to pass the mutiny act, and 
instantly that prodigious army of brave soldiers now under 
the control of government, would drop into the ranks of 
the men of Birmingham." We shall obtain a more 
beneficial bill than the one now lost, t( not by the use of 
arms, God forbid that such a course should be rendered 
necessary, but if the circumstances into which we are 
thrown, do render it necessary, if the tyrants by whom 
we are oppressed, compel us in self defence to war with 
such weapons, Englishmen will not hesitate to use them, 
to put down their enemies." " If the laws are broken for 



BIRMINGHAM. 139 

the purpose of aiding- the efforts of our enemies, the laws 
may be broken for the purpose of supporting and protecting 
the rights of the people." It was further said, that there 
was another mode of accomplishing- the end in view; 
that was, for workmen to keep the money in their pockets, 
instead of paying it into the saving's bank. There was 
also a unanimous determination to pay no more taxes, 
until the bill was passed. " The new government," said 
Mr. Attwood "if a government be establised, may kidnap 
me, but thousands, I doubt not, will follow me to imprison- 
ment, and it must be a large place that will hold us all." 
The king appeared to have deserted the place at the head 
of his people, which he had so long and so honourably 
maintained; the ministers were defeated, the lords had 
abated none of their opposition, the court was reported 
to be unrelentingly opposed to the people, and no where 
could they seek refuge in this hour of the country's danger, 
but in the house of commons. The following petition was 
therefore adopted, and signed by the chairman on behalf of 
the meeting. 

The humble address and petition of the inhabitants of 
Birmingham, and the neighbourhood of Birmingham, as- 
sembled to the number of one hundred thousand persons, 
at Newhall Hill, this 10th day of May, 1832. 
Sheweth, 

That your petitioners have been struck with sur- 
prise and alarm, at the awful intelligence which has this 
day reached them, respecting the dissolution of his majesty's 
government at this perilous crisis, on account of their per- 
severing in supporting the bill of reform, as twice passed 
by your honourable house. 

That, under these unexpected and extraordinary cir- 
cumstances, the life and property of no man in England is 
safe ; and, that the only possible way of giving safety to 
all, is to pass the bill of reform, unmutilated into law. 



140 HISTORY OF 

That your petitioners, look upon your honourable 
house, as the only remaining stay which binds together the 
existing constitution of the country, and in the awful situa- 
tion in which they find themselves and their country 
placed, they appeal to your honourable house, not to 
shrink from the great duties before you, but manfully and 
fearlessly to support the rights of the people, and to adopt 
whatever measures may be deemed necessary for the safety 
and liberty of the country. 

That it is only by the manly and patriotic exercise of 
the great duties which the constitutions has imposed upon 
your honourable house, that your petitioners can now see 
any hope that the just and sacred rights of Englishmen 
can be recovered in any way, except by means that will 
break up the fabric of society, and endanger the fortunes 
and lives of millions. 

That your petitioners find it declared, in the Bill of 
Rights, that the people of England " may have arms for 
their defence, suitable to their condition, and as allowed 
by law ;" and your petitioners apprehend that this great 
right will be put in force generally, and that the whole 
people of England will think it necessary to have arms 
for their defence, in order that they may be prepared 
for any circumstances that may arise. 

Your petitioners, do therefore most earnestly pray, 
that your honourable house, will forthwith present an 
address to his majesty, beseeching his majesty not to 
allow the resignation of his ministers, but to allow them 
forthwith to create a number of peers, sufficient to insure 
the passing of the bill of reform, unmutilated into law, 
and that your honourable house will instantly withhold 
all supplies, and adopt any other measures whatever, 
which may be necessary to carry the bill of reform, and 
to ensure the safety and the liberty of the country. 

A deputation was immediately dispatched with this 



BIRMINGHAM. 



141 



petition, and to consult with the leaders in London, on the 
measures necessary to be adopted in this important crisis. 
But the house of commons again did their duty, and passed 
the following motion of Lord Ebrington's, in a very full 
house, by a majority of eighty — " That an humble address 
be presented to his majesty, humbly representing to his 
majesty the deep regret felt by this house, in the change 
which has been announced in his majesty's councils, by 
the retirement of those ministers in whom this house 
continues to repose unabated confidence. That this house, 
in conformity with the recommendation contained in his 
majesty's most gracious speech from the throne, has framed 
and sent up to the house of lords, a bill for the reform of 
the representation of the people, by which they are con- 
vinced, that the prerogatives of the crown, the authority of 
both houses of parliament, and the rights and liberties of 
the people are duly secured. That to the progress of this 
measure, the house of commons considers itself bound in 
duty to state, to his majesty, that his subjects are looking 
with the most intense interest and anxiety. And they 
cannot disguise from his majesty, that the taking of any 
step which would impair its efficiency, would be productive 
of great disappointment. That this house, is therefore 
impelled, by warm attachment to his majesty's person and 
throne, humbly, but most earnestly to implore his majesty, 
to call to his counsels such persons only as will carry into 
effect, unimpaired in all its essential provisions, that bill 
for the reform of the representation of the people, which 
has recently passed this house/' 

Though the blue flag floated in triumph from the highest 
pinnacles of the town, it was but a barren victory. It had 
hitherto been only a disastrous defeat. All things wore the 
most gloomy appearance. The funeral knell flung its 
solemn boom through the air. Man conversed with man, 
upon those passages in our history, when our brave fore- 



142 HISTORY OF 

fathers fought against their king, vanquished and beheaded 
him, and the dark struggle in which they were about to 
engage, was consecrated by the example of the heroes of 
the commonwealth. Though the calamities consequent 
upon a civil war were vividly before them, they scrupled 
not to prepare for its commencement. They were aware 
that their homes may have been razed to the earth, their 
daughters deflowered, and all the evils consequent upon the 
triumph of an infuriated soldiery might overtake them in 
the first burst of the storm. Yet the consciousness that 
their duty to themselves and their children required the 
sacrifice, nerved the heart for the contest, and bared 
the arm for the blow. Gloomy and portentous as all 
things appeared, it was some consolation to observe the 
unanimity with which the orders of the council were 
observed. The union jack was universally worn by the 
men. Buttons, brooches, and articles of jewellery were 
made and worn, containing the same emblem; and the 
ladies mingled the blue profusely in their dresses — thus 
manifesting the persons who partook of the general en- 
thusiasm. But, it would be absurd to suppose, that all 
who did not wear the signal of the union were opposed 
to its objects. Some of the magistrates, and many of 
the bankers and merchants of the town signed a declara- 
tion, purporting, that though they did not join the union, 
they should do all within their power to pass the bill 
of reform, unmutilated into law. Every memento which 
reminded the inhabitants of their enemies was carefully 
removed. Wellington Street was changed to Attwood 
Street, but is now called Pershore Street; Eldon Place, 
Adelaide house, Cumberland Terrace, and a host of 
others, whose names were taken from the Tory nomen- 
clature were torn away, and other names substituted of 
a more popular hue. 

A report was in circulation that the Duke of Wellington 



BIRMINGHAM. 143 

had been applied to for the purpose of forming an adminis- 
tration, upon the principle of carrying some measure of 
reform. One of his partizans made a speech in the house 
of commons, apparently with the intention of ascertaining 
its feeling on the subject; his reception was very dis- 
couraging; besides, the people had began to assume an 
attitude of defiance. Thousands were secretly exercising 
themselves in the use of military weapons, in Birmingham, 
five thousand men were said to be armed and ready at a 
moment's notice, to put what little skill a few days' training- 
had given them into use. The people became generally 
alarmed at the reported administration of the duke, and the 
council adopted the following declaration, which crowds 
immediately flocked to sign. , 4 . 



SOLEMN DECLARATION. 

Birmingham, May 14, 1832. 

We, the undersigned, think it necessary, in this awful 
crisis of our country's fate, to make known to our fellow- 
countrymen, the alarm and horror with which we are im- 
pressed, by the report of the Duke of Wellington having 
been placed at the head of his majesty's councils. We 
entertain this alarm and horror on the following grounds. 

First, The Duke of Wellington's general avowal of 
arbitrary principles. 

Secondly, His speech against all reform, made only 
about a year and a half ago. 

Thirdly, His protest against the reform bill, as entered 
on the journals of the house of lords, the 17th of April 
last. 

Fourthly, His reported expressions in the late parlia- 
ment, amounting to those of regret, that the Irish people 
" would not" break the law. 

Fifthly, His being a pensioner of foreign despots, and 



144 HISTORY OF 

as such exposed to their influence, and unfit to govern a 
a free people. 

Sixthly, His conduct to Marshal Ney, who was mur- 
dered by the Bourbon government, in violation of the 
convention of Paris ; notwithstanding his appeal to the 
Duke of Wellington, who had signed that convention. 

Seventhly, His general supp rt of arbitrary power on 
the continent of Europe, and the certainty that his policy, 
if he be true to his principles, will necessarily involve the 
nation in unjust and ruinous wars against the liberties of 
Europe. 

Eighthly, His utter incompetency to govern England 
by any other means than the sword, which has never yet 
been and never will be submitted to by the British people. 

For these and various other reasons, we hereby solemnly 
declare our fixed determination to use all the means which 
the constitution and the law have placed at our disposal, 
to induce his majesty to reject from his councils that 
faction, at the head of which is the Duke of Wellington, 
who have, by their arbitrary principles, excited the distrust 
and abhorence of the whole population of the United King- 
dom ; and we declare our firm conviction, that the public 
excitement and agitation can never be allayed until the 
great bill of reform shall be carried into law, by that 
administration, by whose wisdom and virtue it was first 
introduced. 

These are our fixed and unalterable sentiments ; and 
we hereby appeal to all our fellow-countrymen throughout 
England, Scotland, and Ireland, and we confidently call 
on them to unite with us and to sign this our solemn 
declaration, in support of the liberty and the happiness of 
our country." 

During the whole of this and the next day, the most 
absurd rumours were afloat, the Tower of London was 
said to be prepared for three months seige ; cannon and 



BIRMINGHAM. 145 

ammunition were ordered from the various marine depots, 
to be conveyed to several large towns. Ten thousand 
soldiers from Weedon, were marching upon Birmingham, 
and stranger still, numbers of the Scotch Greys lying in 
the Birmingham barracks, had joined the Union. But there 
was a rumour bearing- many appearances of truth, and 
believed by persons who generally had the best informa- 
tion, that a general rising of the inhabitants would take 
place on the 16th. Its object was only darkly insinuated, 
though when coolly and dispassionately considered, it must 
have been foreseen, that it would ruin, or at least endanger, 
the cause it was intended to support, no matter what was 
its object. 

The eventful morning dawned, and by six o'clock the 
joyful news arrived, that Earl Grey had been recalled to 
his majesty's councils. The bells, which had been tolled 
and rung backwards, were immediately reversed and 
swung joyously, " changing their funeral to a festal song." 
The royal standard was hoisted on the steeple of St. 
Phillip's church, and St. Martin's was literally covered 
with flags. The clanging of the bells soon roused the 
inhabitants ; the intelligence spread like an electrical 
thrill, " turning the thoughts of sorrow into tears of joy." 
The excitement was more extraordinary than any of the 
extraordinary' excitements which had agitated the public 
mind, and it was determined to give eclat to the victory 
by giving Mr. Attwood a triumphant reception into 
town. 

Harbone, the village where Mr. Attwood resides, is four 
miles from Birmingham ; as early as nine o'clock, the 
roads leading thereto were thronged with carriage company 
and pedestrians. About twenty thousand persons were 
waiting his arrival at the Five Ways gate. At length the 
joyful sounds of music gave notice of his approach, and 
the air was immediately rent by the vociferous cheers of 

u 



[40 HISTORY OF 

the people. The procession immediately moved forward 
down Islington, Holloway Head, and Smalbrook Street, 
where a clap of thunder burst above their heads, and by 
one of those strange perversions of natural phenomena of 
which history gives numerous examples, it was called an 
expression of approbation by heaven at the people's 
triumph. From thence, the procession moved along Edge- 
baston Street, up High Street, along New Street, up 
Bennett's Hill, and down Newhall Street to Newhall Hill, 
where a temporary hustings had been erected. At the 
commencement of the meeting, there were forty thousand 
people on the ground, and at the conclusion, about sixty 
thousand. 

Mr. Edmonds immediately came forward and said, 
" Fellow countrymen, I have the honour to propose that 
our noble chairman, who is this day crowned with eternal 
glory, do take the chair." 

" My dear friends," said Mr. Attwood, " I feel so much 
gratitude to Almighty God, for the escape the nation has 
had from a most tremendous revolution, that I cannot 
help wishing that our reverend friend near me would 
publicly return thanks to our wise and beneficent Creator, 
for the success of our righteous cause." The Rev. Hugh 
Hutton, in a most impressive manner, offered up the 
following extemporaneous thanksgiving. " Oh Lord God 
Almighty, who orderest the affairs of all men, behold thy 
people before thee, with grateful and rejoicing hearts, 
looking up to thee as the Author of every blessing. We 
thank thee for the great deliverance thou hast wrought out 
for us, and the great and bloodless victory which thou hast 
conferred. We thank thee, the God of all blessings, for 
delivering us from the bonds of our oppressors, and the 
designs of designing and bloody-minded men. Imbue, 
we beseech thee, the hearts of all now assembled, with a 
spirit of Christian benevolence, so that in the hour of our 



BIRMINGHAM. 147 

triumph, we may cheerfully forgive all our enemies and 
oppressors. Grant that we may so use and improve the 
great privileges thou hast conferred upon us, that we may 
secure them to us and our children, for thy glory, and for 
the benefit of the whole family of man. Accept, we 
beseech thee, the thanksgivings and petitions of thy 
humble creatures, and to thy name be ascribed all the 
glory. May thy blessing rest upon the proceedings of this 
day, and more especially on him called to preside at this 
glorious meeting of emancipated and exulting freemen. 
May the feeling of all hearts be more united in the 
glorious cause in which we have engaged, and, through 
thy blessing, enjoy a more abundant victory. Amen. 
Amen." 

This prayer had a surprising effect upon the meeting ; 
the stillness and solemnity which it created, remained so 
long upon the people, as to give them the appearance of 
tameness, now victory had crowned the cause which had 
engaged so much of their attention. 

Mr. Edmonds, in remarking upon the courage, energy, 
and prudence, which characterised the whole proceedings 
of the chairman, and the victory over the boroughmongers 
which was the consequence, said, " A certain Grecian 
general, after the obtainment of a victory, was heard to 
say, ' What will my father say, when he hears of this V 
Might not Mr. Attwood, in the same spirit of self-con- 
gratulation — at once creditable to the patriot and the man, 
exclaim, e What will my father, my wife, and my children 
say to this V for the victory was a greater one than any 
which had hitherto been recorded in the annals of the 
world. 

The meeting hailed with gratitude the emancipation of 
his majesty from evil-minded counsellors, and acknowledged 
with the same feeling, the prompt and efficient support of 
the majority of the house of commons. It also returned 



148 HISTORY OF 

thanks to the lord mayor, the common council, and livery 
of the city of London, the citizens of Westminster, and 
the various political bodies who had made common cause 
with the people of Birmingham. An address of con- 
gratulation to Earl Grey was also adopted, and a deputa- 
tion appointed to present the address to his lordship in 
person. In every town and village through which the 
deputation passed, the inhabitants came out to meet them, 
and the common council of London presented the freedom 
of the city to the chairman of the Union. 

When Earl Grey was defeated on the disfranchising 
clauses, the Duke of Wellington undertook to form an 
administration, upon the expressed condition of carrying a 
large measure of reform, as his majesty would grant him 
the power upon no other conditions. He tried those 
persons who had formerly acted with him, but the most 
talented shrunk from the responsibility ; others were tried 
with the like success. His grace ultimately found himself 
under the necessity of retiring. He went to inform his 
majesty of his want of success, and his majesty is reported 
to have asked, by what means he had intended to carry 
his bill through the lords, if it were as extensive as the 
people desired, as he could not grant him the power he 
had already refused Earl Grey, of " swamping the house 
of lords." His grace answered, by prevailing upon a part 
of their lordships to refrain from voting when the measure 
was before the house. " You cannot," said his majesty, 
" refuse then to adopt the same policy to Earl Grey, or I 
must give him power to create peers, to ensure the safety 
of the bill." The Lords Harrowby and WharnclifFe, and 
their partizans, adopted this policy, and neither attended 
or voted during the progress of the bill ; its further 
discussions were therefore matters of course. But the 
taste the people had already had of the temper of the 
lords, caused them to watch their proceedings with jealousy 



BIRMINGHAM. 149 

and anxiety. To prevent a repetition of the absurd 
rumours before noticed, a gentleman who had already done 
much to disseminate sound information upon abstruse 
subjects, supplied daily a number of papers to different 
persons, who, mounting some slight elevation, such as a 
tombstone, the Old Canal Office steps and other eminences, 
read them aloud to the crowds, who every evening flocked 
to hear them. 

Upon the return of the deputation from London, it was 
determined to give them a triumphant reception into 
Birmingham, great preparations were made, and the day 
was very favourable. At Small Heath Gate, the deputa- 
tion was met by a very larg-e procession, with thousands 
of flags and banners, and numerous bands of music ; the 
inhabitants of every house near which the procession 
passed, displayed some token of congratulation ; flags, 
mottos, transparencies, effigies, garlands, and wreaths of 
flowers stretched across the streets, waving of handker- 
chiefs, and continued greetings met the eye and the ear at 
every step ; the firing- of guns, the ascent of balloons, and 
the pealing of bells from every steeple, added to the 
demonstrations of joy. But these tokens of joy were not 
removed, until some weeks after the reform bill had 
obtained the royal assent. Such numbers of flags were 
daily exhibited, that surprised every beholder. In Small- 
brook Street, one hundred and thirteen were displayed. 
In Livery Street, three hundred and ten. In Great Charles 
Street, eighty-seven, and every other street in proportion. 
June 7th, 1832, the Bill of Reform became the law of the 
land, and it was determined to manifest the public joy, by 
a procession upon a more magnificent scale than any other 
which had hitherto taken place. But an awful and contagions 
disease was raging in the neighbourhood, particularly at 
Bilstone, eleven miles from hence, and two from Wolver- 
hampton. At this place, several thousands were swept off 



150 HISTORY OF 

by this epidemic. Various physicians represented the 
danger of its introduction, by some of the numerous 
persons who would be attracted to Birmingham from the 
above neighbourhood. The council resolved in con- 
sequence to postpone the procession. But the various 
trades had made great preparations, and were chagrined 
at the disappointment. They were uninfluenced by the 
prudential advice which had influenced the council, and 
determined to have the procession on the day appointed;, 
and conduct it themselves. Notwithstanding - that it was 
discountenanced by the middle class generally, it was 
the grandest procession which ever took place in Birming- 
ham. 

At this point we purpose concluding the history of 
the Union: it is now, as before intimated, virtually dis- 
solved; the council having discontinued its meetings, subject 
to be again called into activity by the requisition of its 
members. 

As we have rarely deviated from strict narration in the 
preceding pages, we shall here briefly give some account 
of the causes which led to the extraordinary success of the 
association whose proceedings we have related. 

And first, the inherent justice of the cause they advo- 
cated. It could not rationally be supposed that the people 
of England, who have been renowned so many centuries 
for their love of liberty, would long allow any faction to 
infuse such a spirit into the commons' house as would 
prevent its being what the constitution supposes it to be, — 
a faithful representation of the opinions of the people ; nor 
is it consistent with reason that a part of the inhabitants 
of any country should be allowed the power to enforce their 
own interest, in opposition to the interests of society in 
general. The argument made use of by the Tories, who 
acknowledged the theoretical justice of the cause, — that 
the people were not generally in a fit state to exereise the 



BIRMINGHAM 151 

power which the constitution allowed, and that therefore a 
conservative principle was necessary to counteract a too 
popular influence, at once destroyed the principle they had 
already allowed ; for it is theoretically as well as practically 
false to allow an agent a power he is incapable of properly 
directing ; for instance, it is false in theory as well as 
practice to allow a man who has lost the right use of his 
faculties the unrestrained use of weapons of destruction 
which were his property when in a sane state ; nay, the 
law and justice is still more jealous, and denies an insane 
man the use of property which can injure none but his heir, 
by a lavish and prodigal diffusion. But if this argument, 
and it was the only one adduced, had any force before the 
struggle commenced, it must entirely have vanished before 
it ended, for never was a more peaceable and determined 
contest carried on against a small but powerful and per- 
severing faction. 

The public mind had been prepared for the change. 
For many years, men who were far before the times in 
which they lived, in general information, had laboured 
hard to diffuse a correct knowledge of the subject, and 
though their efforts were thanklessly received, and them- 
selves either met by the withering coldness of former 
friends, the cunning machinations of the spy, or open 
prosecution, they were cheered by the countenances of 
some adherents, and the proud belief that they were 
martyrs in the cause of their country. By old men their 
opinions were received with repugnance, but the young 
men heard their discourses and pondered upon their argu- 
ments, which would naturally produce conviction. The 
full exposure of the horrid spy system enlisted the sympa- 
thies of all on behalf of the unfortunate men who were thus 
diabolically entrapped into crime; and their subsequent 
prosecution rivetted the affection of every generous mind 
for the cause in which so many had suffered. The distress 



152 HISTORY OF 

which existed for some years preceding the formation of 
the union, caused all men, for all were sufferers, to enter- 
tain the subject of reform more ardently than at any former 
period ; and the disgusting levity and insults of the com- 
mons, when the distress and petitions for reform were 
brought before them, had the natural effect of endearing 
the nation to the cause for which it had been ridiculed and 
insulted. 

But the prudence of the council, far more than any other 
cause, carried reform to a triumphant issue. There were 
ardent minds among them who could scarcely be restrained 
by the dull cold forms of law from pushing illegally forward 
to redress those grievances which their reason, their feel- 
ings, their sufferings, informed them were founded upon 
the immutable principles of justice, but the eminent tact 
of the chairman, and the steadiness of the majority, pre- 
vented their ardour ruining the cause it was intended to 
serve. The opinions of eminent lawyers were obtained 
upon the constitution of the union, and the various measures 
which it was necessary to adopt, and if any measure of 
doubtful legality were adopted, immediately its doubtfulness 
was discovered, it was rescinded. The council were con- 
tinually enforcing upon the people the necessity that peace, 
legality, and order, should characterise all their proceedings, 
and their directions were fully obeyed. The people were 
not without causes of irritation, they were spoken of dis- 
respectfully, and their pretensions met with the same spirit 
as would be those of an inferior order of animals ; but, 
however their generous spirits may have been insulted by 
the supporters of a fallen cause, they never allowed resent- 
ment to induce them to act as their enemies desired, 
Strict obedience to the laws was maintained throughout 
the struggle, and contempt repaid the insults of those who 
thought proper to display their magnanimity and good- 
breeding by despising the class from which they had so 



BIRMINGHAM. 153 

recently sprung ; but the prudence of the council was not 
confined in its influences to its own neighbourhood, their 
proceedings were watched and imitated by all who had the 
same end in view, and produced a unity of purpose, which 
it was impossible ultimately to resist. Every city, town, 
and village, established similar societies, and thus rolled 
up and concentrated public opinion into masses which 
could be directed upon any point, at will, and it requires 
little penetration to perceive that no man, or set of men, 
can long withstand the unanimous call of the public voice. 
If the people be universally against them, the immediate 
circles of their daily intercourse award only a niggard 
and cautious praise, and themselves suspicious of their 
own approbation, no minds, stern and proud though they 
be, can long contemn the people they affect to despise ; a 
proud appeal to the verdict of posterity, will not avail, 
and at length, like a lonely tree on the heath, they must 
shrink before the storm, at which they long tossed their 
heads in disdain. 

The efforts of the king and his ministers. Notwith- 
standing the spirit of democracy which is largely infused 
by education, into the minds of all Englishmen, there is 
still a great portion of devotional loyalty among his 
" majesty's liege subjects," which would prevent them 
taking any decisive measure in opposition to him, but 
would induce them to go any length with him, when sup- 
ported by the popular voice. And on more than one 
occasion, his majesty manifested his determination to 
satisfy the wishes of his people, and rid himself and them 
from the domination of a few powerful families. His name 
was of eminent use in the contest, it was a tower of strength 
which they upon the adverse faction wanted, and induced a 
number of rich families to become the advocates of the 
cause they had long considered as that of the mob, and 
disgraceful to persons of their rank, to be its open or secret; 

x 



154 HISTORY OF 

friends. The very existence of the ministry, as such, 
demanded their utmost exertions: they entered office, 
pledged to carry a large measure of reform, and one 
sufficiently extensive, could not he carried but by opposing 
an overwhelming expression of public opinion, to the 
power possessed by a few families. Besides, the attempt 
of the Whig party in 1782, to govern the king and country 
by the union of family influence, had justly excited that 
suspicion, which the long period of Tory misrule had not 
erased from memory, and their own conduct since in office, 
has not eradicated. The altered state of society required 
such extensive changes in the policy of government, that 
so long as the power of family influence was uninjured, 
could not be effected ; and the Whigs, who have other 
motives besides love of country for the retention of office, 
found it necessary to intrench themselves behind the 
power of the people, which could only be done by granting 
those reforms for which the people had long called but 
called in vain. 

By these various causes, the greatest revolution recorded 
in the annals of any age or country, was peaceably effected. 
We have placed the exertions of the king and his ministers, 
among the auxiliary causes, but perhaps they ought to 
take a more dignified station ; for without them, reform 
never could have been peaceably carried to a successful 
issue, and even those of the Union, great and powerful as 
they were, should be ranked as secondary causes. 



ELECTION. 

The Reform Bill having given two representatives to the 
borough of Birmingham, and two additional members for 



BIRMINGHAM. 155 

the county, Birmingham will in future be occasionally 
subject to the bustle and excitement, if not the party 
spirit and disturbances generally displayed at elections. 
The county is now divided into two distinct districts, each 
of which sends its members independent of the other. 
Each division is divided into districts for polling; Bir- 
mingham is one of those districts, and the result of the 
last election, which was a contested one, shewed that the 
Birmingham electors for the northern division of the 
county, have a great proportion of votes, and also that 
they can behave as well, if not better than any town in 
England, under the influence of great excitement. The 
whole of the election proceedings passed over without the 
least disturbance. 

Early in November, 1832, it became pretty generally 
rumoured, that two persons would be put in nomination, 
in opposition to Messrs. Attwood and Scholefield. This 
was followed by sundry meetings, private and public, 
among the friends of the opposition. It thus became 
necessary that the intended candidates should not be idle. 
A meeting was held, November 16th, 1832, at Beards- 
worth's Repository. This was followed by a canvass, 
which proved highly satisfactory to Mr. Attwood's friends. 
The day of nomination, December 12th, 1832, came, 
however, without the expected opposition, and this town 
was freed from the effects of a contested election for the 
first members sent for the new borough. 

The hustings were erected in Moor Street, Thomas 
Attivood, Esq. was proposed by Thomas Wright Hill, and 
seconded by Mr. Betts. Joshua Scholefield, Esq. was pro- 
posed by George Frederick Muntz, Esq. and seconded by 
Thomas Clark, Esq. After a show of hands, they were 
declared duly elected by the returning officers, the high and 
low bailiffs. Great preparations were made for the chairing. 



156 HISTORY OF 

A car of exquisite workmanship was made at the expense 
of sixty guineas. 

Early in the morning of December 17th all was bustle 
and preparation to honour our first representatives. The 
procession started from the Five Ways, Edgbaston. All 
the means of the Union to make a display, with very con- 
siderable additions got up for the occasion, were brought 
into use. The day was fine, and every street through 
which the procession passed, was one complete mass of 
human beings. Business was completely suspended. The 
greatest order prevailed, and no accidents occurred. 
More than sixty thousand persons were supposed to have 
been in New Street at one time. 

G. De B. Attwood was proposed a candidate for the 
new borough of Walsall, in opposition to Mr. Foster. 
Although Mr. Attwood was the favourite, Foster was 
returned by a majority of sixty. 

The votes of our members, with very few exceptions, 
have given entire satisfaction. This is sufficiently exem- 
plified by the dinner given them at Beardsworth's Re- 
pository, Monday, September 15th, 1834, which was 
attended by at least four thousand persons. Nearly three 
thousand eight hundred sat down to dinner, and great 
numbers were disappointed at not being- able to gain 
admission. As the dinner held in this place in October, 
1831, has been minutely described, it would be useless to 
say much here, except we may add that the arrangements 
were similar, but better than on that occasion. The meeting 
was more numerously attended, and quite as respectable. 
The members were well received, and entered into long- 
explanations of their parliamentary conduct. They cleared 
up some points that had been falsely reported, and the 
meeting broke up in good order. 



TRADE. 



Perhaps there is not by nature, so much difference in the 
capacities of men, as by education. The efforts of nature 
will produce a tenfold crop in the field, but those of art, 
fifty. 

Perhaps too, the seeds of every virtue, vice, inclination, 
and habit, are sown in the breast of every human being, 
though not in an equal degree. Some of these lie dormant 
for ever, no hand inviting- their cultivation. Some are 
called into existence by their own internal strength, and 
others by the external powers that surround them. Some 
of these seeds flourish more, some less, according to the 
aptness of the soil, and the modes of assistance. We are 
not to suppose infancy the only time in which these scions 
spring, no part of life is exempt. I knew a man who lived 
to the age of forty, totally regardless of music. A fiddler 
happened to have apartments near his abode, attracted his 
ear, by frequent exhibitions, which produced a growing 
inclination for that favourite science, and he became a 
proficient himself. Thus, in advanced periods, a man may 
fall in love with a science, a woman, or a bottle : thus 
avarice is said to shoot up in ancient soil ; and thus, I 
myself bud forth in history at fifty-six. 

The cameleon is said to receive a tincture from the 
colour of the object that is nearest him ; but the human 
mind in reality receives a bias from its connexions. Link 
a man to the pulpit, and he cannot proceed to any great 
lengths in profligate life. Enter him into the army, and 



158 HISTORY OF 

he will endeavour to swear himself into consequence. Make 
the man of humanity an overseer of the poor, and he will 
quickly find the tender feelings of commiseration hardened. 
Make him a surgeon, and he will amputate a leg with the 
same indifference with which a cutler saws a piece of bone 
for a knife handle. Make him a physician, and he will be 
the only person upon the premises, the heir excepted, 
unconcerned at the prospect of death. You commit a 
rascal to prison because he merits transportation, but by 
the time he comes out he merits a halter. By uniting also 
with industry, we become industrious. It is easy to give 
instances of people whose distinguishing characteristic was 
idleness, but when they breathed the air of Birmingham, 
diligence became the predominant feature. The view of 
profit, like the view of corn to the hungry horse, excites to 
action. Thus the various seeds scattered by nature into 
the soul at its first formation, either lie neglected, are urged 
into increase by their own powers, or are drawn towards 
maturity by the concurring circumstances that attend 
them. 

The late Mr. Grenville observed, in the house of com- 
mons, " That commerce tended to corrupt the morals of 
a people." If we examine the expression, we shall find it 
true in a certain degree, beyond which, it tends to improve 
them. 

Perhaps every tradesman can furnish out numberless 
instances of small deceit. His conduct is marked with a 
littleness, which though allowed by general consent, is not 
strictly just. A person with whom I have long been con- 
nected in business, asked, if I had dealt with his relation, 
whom he had brought up, and who had lately entered into 
commercial life. I answer in the affirmative. He replied, 
" He is a very honest fellow." I told him I saw all the 
finesse of a tradesman about him. " Oh, rejoined my 
friend, a man has a right to say all he can in favour of his 



BIRMINGHAM. 



159 



own goods." Nor is the seller alone culpable. The buyer 
takes an equal share in the deception. Though neither of 
them speak their sentiments, they well understand each 
other. Whilst a treaty is agitating, the profit of the trades- 
man vanishes yet. the buyer pronounces against the article; 
but when finished, the seller whispers his friend, " It is 
well sold," and the buyer smiles it a bargain. Thus is the 
commercial track a line of minute deceits. 

But, on the other hand, it does not seem possible for a 
man in trade to pass this line, without wrecking his reputa- 
tion ; which, if once broken, can never be made whole. 
The character of a tradesman is valuable, it is his all ; 
therefore, whatever seeds of the vicious kind shoot forth in 
the mind, are carefully watched and nipped in the bud, 
that they may never blossom into action. 

Having stated the accounts between morality and trade, 
I shall leave the reader to draw the balance, and only ask, 
" Whether the people in trade are more corrupt than those 
out ? If the curious reader will lend an attentive ear to a 
pair of farmers in the market, bartering for a cow, he will 
find as much dissimulation as at St. James', or at any 
other Saint's but couched in homelier phrase. The man 
of well-bred deceit, is " infinitely your friend — it would 
give him immense pleasure to serve you !" while the man 

in the frock " Will be if he tells you a word of a lie !" 

Deception is an innate principle of the human heart, not 
peculiar to one man, or one profession. Having occasion 
for a horse, in 1759, I mentioned it to an acquaintance, 
and informed him the uses : he assured me he had one 
that would exactly suit ; which he shewed in the stable, 
and held the candle pretty high, for fear of affecting the 
straiv. I told him it was needless to examine him, for I 
should rely upon his word, being conscious he was too 
much my friend to deceive me; therefore bargained, and 
caused him to be sent home. But by the light of the sun. 



1G0 HISTORY OF 

which next morning illumined the heavens, I perceived the 
horse was greased on all fours. I therefore, in gentle 
terms, upbraided my friend with duplicity, when he replied 
with some warmth, " I would cheat my own brother in a 
horse." Had this honourable friend stood a chance of 
selling me a horse once a week, his own interest would 
have prevented him from deceiving me. 

A man enters into business with a view of acquiring a 
fortune — a laudable motive ! That property which rises 
from honest industry, is an honour to its owner ; the repose 
of his age, the reward of a life of attention ; but, great as 
the advantage seems, yet, being- of a private nature, it is 
one of the least in the mercantile walk. For the inter- 
course occasioned by traffic, gives a man a view of the 
world, of himself; removes the narrow limits that confine 
his judgment, expands the mind, opens his understanding, 
removes his prejudices, and polishes his manners. Civility 
and humanity are ever the companions of trade ; the man 
of business is the man of liberal sentiment ; a barbarous 
and commercial people, is a contradiction ; if he is not the 
philosopher of nature, he is the friend of his country. 
Even the men of inferior life among us, whose occupations, 
one would think, tend to produce minds as callous as the 
metal they work, lay a stronger claim to civilization than 
in any other place with which I am acquainted. I am 
sorry to mutilate the compliment, when I mention the 
lower race of the other sex. 

It is singular, that a predilection for Birmingham, is 
entertained by every denomination of visitants, from 
Edward Duke of York, who saw us in 1765, down to the 
presuming quack, who, griped with necessity, boldly 
discharges his filth from the stage. A pavier, of the 
name of Obrian, assured me in 1750, that he only meant 
to sleep one night in Birmingham, in his way from Lon- 
don to Dublin. But instead of pursuing his journey next 



BIRMINGHAM. 101. 

morning-, as intended, he had continued in the place thirty- 
five years: and though fortune had never elevated him 
above the pebbles of the street, he had never repented his 
stay. 

It has already been remarked, that I first saw Birming- 
ham in 1741, accidentally cast into those regions of civility, 
equally unknown to every inhabitant, nor had the least 
idea of becoming one myself. Though the reflections 
of an untaught youth of seventeen cannot be striking-, 
yet, as they were purely natural, permit me to describe 
them. 

I had been before acquainted with two or three principal 
towns. The environs of all I had seen were composed 
of wretched dwellings, replete with dirt and poverty ; but 
the buildings in the exterior of Birmingham, rose in a 
style of elegance. Thatch, so plentiful in other towns, 
was not to be met with in this. I was much surprised at 
the place, but more at the people. They were a species I 
had never seen ; they possessed a vivacity I had never 
beheld : I had been among dreamers, but now I saw men 
awake : their very step along the street shewed alacrity. 
I had been taught to consider the whole twenty-four hours 
as appropriated for sleep, but I found a people satisfied 
with only half that number. My intended stay, like 
Obrian's, was one night ; but, struck with the place, I 
was unwilling to leave it. I could not avoid remarking, 
that if the people of Birmingham did not suffer themselves 
to sleep in the streets, they did not suffer others to sleep 
in their beds ; for I was, each morning by three o'clock, 
saluted with a circle of hammers. Every man seemed to 
know and prosecute his own affairs : the town was large, 
and full of inhabitants, and those inhabitants full of 
industry. I had seen faces elsewhere tinctured with an 
idle gloom void of meaning, but here, with a pleasing 
alertness. Their appearance was strongly marked with the 

Y 



162 HISTORY OF 

modes of civil life: I mixed with a variety of company, 
chiefly of the lower ranks, and rather as a silent spectator. 
I was treated with an easy freedom by all, and with marks 
of favour by some. Hospitality seemed to claim this 
happy people for her own, though I knew not from what 
cause. I did not meet with this treatment in 1770, twenty- 
nine years after, at Bosworth, where I accompanied a 
gentleman, with no other intent, than to view the field 
celebrated for the fall of Richard the Third. The in- 
habitants enjoyed the cruel satisfaction of setting their 
dogs at us in the street, merely because we were strangers. 
Human figures, not their own, are seldom seen in those 
inhospitable regions. Surrounded with impassable roads, 
having no intercourse with man to humanize the mind, no 
commerce to smooth their rugged manners, they continue 
the boors of nature. 

Thus it appears, that characters are influenced by 
profession. That the great advantage of private fortune, 
and the greater to society, of softening and forming the 
mind, are the result of trade. But these are not the only 
benefits that flow from this desirable spring. It opens the 
hand of charity to the assistance of distress ; witness the 
hospital and the two charity schools, supported by anuual 
donation. It adds to the national security, by supplying 
the taxes for internal use, and, for the prosecution of war. 
It adds to that security, by furnishing the inhabitants 
with riches, which they are ever anxious to preserve, 
even at the risk of their lives ; for the preserva- 
tion of private wealth, tends to the preservation of the 
state. It augments the value of landed property, by 
multiplying the number of purchasers. It produces money 
to improve that land into a higher state of cultivation, 
which ultimately redounds to general benefit, by affording 
plenty. It unites bodies of men in social compact, for 
their mutual interest : it adds to the credit and pleasure 



BIRMINGHAM. 163 

of individuals, by enabling them to purchase entertain- 
ment and improvement, both of the corporeal and intellec- 
tual kind. It finds employment for the hand that would 
otherwise be found in mischief; and it elevates the character 
of a nation in the scale of government. 

Birmingham, by her commercial consequence, has, of 
late, justly assumed the liberty of nominating one of the 
representatives for the county; and, to her honour, the 
elective body never regretted her choice. In that memorable 
contest of 1774, we were almost to a man of one mind ; if 
an odd dozen amongst us, of a different mould, did not 
assimilate with the rest, they were treated, as men of free 
judgment should ever be treated, with civility, and the 
line of harmony was not broken. If this little treatise 
happens to travel into some corporate places, where the 
fire of contention, blown by the breath of party, is kept 
alive during seven years, let them cast a second glance over 
the above remark. 

Some of the first words after the creation, increase and 
multiply, are applicable to Birmingham ; but as her own 
people are insufficient for the manufactures, she demands 
assistance for two or three miles round her. In our early 
morning 1 walks, on every road proceeding- from the town, 
we meet the sons of diligence returning to business, and 
bringing in the same dusky smuts, which the evening 
before they took out. But though they appear of a 
darkish complexion, we may consider it is the property of 
every metal to sully the user ; money itself has the same 
effect, and yet he deems it no disgrace who is daubed by 
fingering it ; the disgrace lies with him who has none to 
finger. Fashions mark all the degrees of men. This 
industrious race are distinguished by a black beard on 
Saturday night, and a white shirt on Monday morning. 

The profits arising from labour, to the lower orders of 
men, seem to surpass those of other mercantile places. 



164 HISTORY OF 

This is not only visible in the manufactures peculiar to 
Birmingham, but in the more common occupations of the 
barber, tailor, shoemaker, &c. who bask in the rays of 
plenty. 

It is entertaining to the curious observer, to contemplate 
the variation of things. We know of nothing, either in 
the natural or moral world, that continues in the same 
state. From a number of instances that might be adduced, 
permit me to name one — that of money. This, con- 
sidered in the abstract, is of little or no value : but, by 
the common consent of mankind, is erected into a general 
arbitrator, to fix a value upon all others ; a medium through 
which every thing passes ; a balance by which they must 
be weighed ; a touchstone to which they must be applied 
to find their worth; though we can neither eat nor drink it, 
we can neither eat nor drink without it. He that has none 
best knows its use. 

It has long been a complaint, that the same quantity of 
this medium, money, will not produce so much of the 
necessaries of life, particularly food, as heretofore ; or in 
other words, that provisions have been rising- gradually for 
many ages, and that the shilling, which formerly supported 
the laborious family a whole week, will not now support it 
one day. 

In times of remarkable scarcity, such as those in 1728, 
1741, 1756, 1766, and 1774, the press abounded with 
publications on the subject ; but none, which I have seen, 
reached the question, though short. 

It is of no consequence, whether a bushel of corn sells for 
sixpence or six shillings, but what time a man must labour 
before he can earn one ? If, by the moderate labour of thirty- 
six hours, in the reign of Henry the III., he could acquire 
a groat, which would purchase a bushel of wheat ; and if, 
in the reign of George the III., he works the same number 
of hours for eight shillings, which will make the same 



BIRMINGHAM. 165 

purchase, the balance is exactly even. If, by our com- 
mercial concerns with the eastern and the western worlds, 
the kingdom abounds with bullion, money must be cheaper ; 
therefore a larger quantity is required to perform the same 
use. If money would go now as far as in the days of 
Henry the III., a journeyman in Birmingham might amass 
a ministerial fortune. 

Whether provisions abound more or less ? And, whether 
the poor fare better or worse, in one period than the other ? 
are also questions dependent upon trade, and therefore 
worth investigating. 

If the necessaries of life abound more in this reign, than 
in that of Henry the III., we cannot pronounce them 
dearer. Perhaps it will not be absurd to suppose, that the 
same quantity of land, directed by the superior hand of 
cultivation, in the eighteenth century, will yield twice the 
produce, as by the ignorant management of the thirteenth. 
We may suppose also, by the vast number of new inclo- 
sures which have annually taken place since the revolution, 
that twice the quantity of land is brought into cultivation : 
it follows, that four times the quantity of provisions is 
raised from the earth, that was raised under Henry the 
III., which will leave a large surplus in hand, after we 
have deducted for additional luxury, a greater number of 
consumers, and for exportation. This extraordinary stock 
is a security against famine, which our forefathers severely 
felt. It will be granted, that in both periods the worst of 
the meat was used by the poor. By the improvements in 
agriculture, the art of feeding cattle is well understood, 
and much in practice ; as the land improves, so will the 
beast that feeds upon it ; if the productions, therefore, of 
the slaughter-house, in this age, surpass those of Henry 
III., then the fare of the poor is at least as much superior 
now, as the worst of fat meat is superior to the worst of 
lean. The poor inhabitants in that day, found it difficult 



166 HISTORY OF 

to procure bread ; but in this, they sometimes add cream 
and butter. 

Thus it appears, that through the amazing- variation of 
things a balance is preserved : that provisions have not 
advanced in price, but are more plentiful ; and that the 
lower class of men have found in trade, that intricate, but 
beneficial clue, which guides them into the confines of 
luxury. 

Provisions and the manufactures, like a pair of scales, 
will not preponderate together ; but as weight is applied to 
the one, the other will advance. As labour is irksome to 
the body, a man will perform no more of it than necessity 
obliges him; it follows, that in those] times when plenty 
preponderates, the manfactures tend to decay : for if a man 
can support his family with three days labour, he will not 
work six. 

As the generality of men will perform no more work that 
produces a maintenance, reduce that maintenance to half 
the price, and they will perform but half the work : hence, 
half the commerce of a nation is destroyed at one blow, and 
what is lost by one kingdom will be recovered by another, 
in rivalship. A commercial people, therefore, will endeavour 
to keep provisions at a superior rate, yet within reach of 
the poor. It follows also, that luxury is no way detrimental 
to trade ; for we frequently observe ability and industry 
exerted to support it. 

The practice of the Birmingham manufacturer for, per- 
haps, a hundred generations, was to keep within the 
warmth of his own forge. The foreign customer, there- 
fore, applied to him for the execution of orders, and 
regularly made his appearance twice a-year ; and though 
this mode of business is not totally extinguished, yet a 
very different one is adopted. The merchant stands at 
the head of the manufacturer, purchases his produce, and 
travels the whole island to promote the sale; a practice 



BIRMINGHAM. 167 

that would have astonished our forefathers. The com- 
mercial spirit of the age, has penetrated beyond the confines 
of Britain, and explored the whole continent of Europe ; 
nor does it stop there, for the West Indies, and the 
American world, are intimately acquainted with the Bir- 
mingham merchant ; and nothing but the exclusive com- 
mand of the East India Company over the Asiatic trade, 
prevents our riders from treading upon the heels of each 
other in the streets of Calcutta. To this modern conduct 
of Birmingham, in sending her sons to the foreign market, 
I ascribe the chief cause of her rapid increase. 

By the poor's books it appears, there are not (1795) four 
thousand houses in Birmingham, that pay the parochial 
rates ; whilst there are more than seven thousand that do 
not. Hence we see what an amazing number of the labori- 
ous part of mankind are among us. This valuable class of 
the creation, are the prop of the remainder. They are the 
rise and support of our commerce. From this fountain we 
draw our luxuries and our pleasures. They spread our 
tables, and oil the wheels of our carriages. They are the 
riches and the defence of the country. How necessary 
then is it to direct with prudence, the rough passions of 
this important race, and make them subservient to the 
great end of civil society. Let not the religious reader be 
surprised if I say, their follies, and even their vices, under 
certain restrictions, are beneficial. Corruption in the com- 
munity, as well as in the natural body, accelerates vital 
existence. Let us survey the man, who begins life at the 
lowest ebb, without property, or any other advantage but 
that of his own prudence. He comes, by length of time 
and very minute degrees, from being directed himself, to 
have the direction of others. He quits the precincts of 
servitude, and enters the dominions of command. He 
laboured for others, but now others labour for him. Should 
the whole race, therefore, possess the same prudence, they 



168 HISTORY OF 

would all become masters. Where then could be found 
the servant ? Who is to perform the manual part ? Who 
is to execute the orders of the merchant ? A world con- 
sisting only of masters, is like a monster consisting only of 
a head. We know that the head is no ^more than the 
leading power, the members are equally necessary. And, 
as one member is placed in a more elevated state than 
another, so are the ranks of men, that no void may be left. 
The hands and the feet were designed to execute the 
drudgery of life, the head for direction, and all are suitable 
in their sphere. 

.-, If we turn the other side of the picture, we shall see a 
man born in affluence, take the reins of direction, but 
like Phaeton, not being able to guide them, blunders 
on from mischief to mischief, till he involves himself in 
destruction, comes prone to the earth, and many are injured 
with his fall. From directing the bridle, he submits to the 
bit ; seeks for bread in the shops, the line designed him by 
nature ; where his hands become callous with the file, and 
where, for the first time in his life, he becomes useful to an 
injured society. Thus, from imprudence, folly, and vice, 
is produced poverty ; — poverty produces labour ; from 
labour, arise the manufactures ; and from these, the riches 
of a country, with all their train of benefits. 

Capacity is not quite so necessary to carry on business, 
as a turn of mind suited to the occasion. Most trades 
may be conducted with very little brains. I have known 
many a pretty fortune acquired by many a weak head ; nay, 
I have sometimes been tempted to question, whether genius 
is not an enemy to success. It is apt to soar above the 
low grovellings of a mechanical shop. The man of genius 
may acquire fame, but the plodder acquires money. 

We have a middle class, which is one of the most 
amiable characters among us ; a character very little 
noticed, but very common — that of a faithful servant. A 



BIRMINGHAM. 



169 



flower is not the less beautiful, because it blows unheeded 
in the field, or a gem the less valuable, because never 
exhibited to the world. In them, the eye of attention 
wakes for another ; the still tides of ambition never disturb 
the mounds of contentment. I could give a list of these 
silent worthies, as long as of our chief officers. He who 
finds one, finds hidden treasures. 

It would be difficult to enumerate the great varieiy of 
trades practised in Birmingham, neither would it give 
pleasure to the reader. Some of them spring up with the 
expedition of a blade of grass, and, like that, wither in a 
summer. If some are lasting, like the sun, others seem to 
change with the moon. Invention is ever at work. Idle- 
ness, the manufactory of scandal, with the numerous 
occupations connected with the cotton, the linen, the silk, 
and the woollen trades, are little known among us. 

Birmingham began with the productions of the anvil, 
and probably will end with them. The sons of the hammer 
were once her chief inhabitants ; but the great crowd of 
artists is now lost in a greater : genius seems to increase 
with multitude. Part of the riches, extension, and improve- 
ment of Birmingham, are owing to the late John Taylor, 
Esq., who possessed the singular powers of perceiving 
things as they really were. The spring, and consequence 
of action, were open to his view ; him we may justly deem 
the Shakspeare or the Newton of his day. He rose from 
minute beginnings, to shine in the commercial hemisphere, 
as they in the poetical and philosophical. Imitation is 
part of the human character. An example of such 
eminence in himself, promoted exertion in others ; which, 
when prudence guided the helm, led on to fortune ; but 
the bold adventurer who crowded sail, without ballast and 
without rudder, has been known to overset the vessel, and 
sink insolvent. To this uncommon genius we owe the 
gilt button, the japanned and gilt snuff-boxes, with the 

z 



170 HISTORY OF 

numerous race of enamels. From the same fountain issued 
the painted snuff-box, at which one servant earned £3 
lO. per week, by painting them at a farthing each. In 
his shop were weekly manufactured, buttons to the amount 
of £800, exclusive of other valuable productions. One of 
the present nobility, of distinguished taste, examining the 
works, with the master, purchased some of the articles, 
among others, a toy of eighty guineas value, and, while 
paying for them, observed, with a smile, " he plainly saw 
he could not reside in Birmingham for less than two 
hundred pounds a day." — Mr. Taylor died in 1775, at the 
age of sixty-four, after acquiring a fortune of £200,000. 

The active powers of genius, the instigation of profit, 
and the affinity of one calling- to another, often induce 
the artist to change his occupation. There is nothing more 
common among us ; even the divine and the lawyer are 
prone to this change. Thus the church throws her dead 
weight into the scale of commerce, and the law gives up the 
cause of contention : but there is nothing more disgraceful, 
next to thieving, in other places. " I am told," says an 
elderly gentleman, as he amused himself in a pitiful book- 
seller's shop in a wretched market town, " that you are a 
stocking-maker by trade !" The humble bookseller, half 
confused, and wholly ashamed, could not deny the charge. 
" Ah," cried the senior, whose features were modelled 
between the sneer and the smile, " there is neither honour 
or profit in changing the trade you were bred to. Do not 
attempt to sell books, but stay at home, and pursue your 
own business." But the dejected bookseller, (our author 
Mr. Hutton,) scarcely one step higher than a walking 
stationer, had acquired in 1795, a fortune of £20,000. 
Had he followed the senior's advice, he might, like a com- 
mon foot soldier, have starved upon eightpence a day. 

The toy trades first made their appearance in Birming- 
ham, in the beginning of Charles the II. reign, in an 



BIRMINGHAM. 



171 



amazing variety, attended with, all their beauties and their 
graces. The first in pre-eminence, is the 

Button. 

This beautiful ornament appears with infinite variation ; 
and though the original date is rather uncertain, yet we 
well remember the long coats of our grandfathers covered 
with half a gross of high-tops, and the cloaks of our 
grandmothers ornamented with a horn button nearly the 
size of a crown piece, a watch, or John-apple, curiously 
wrought, as having passed through the Birmingham press. 

Though the common round button keeps on with the 
steady pace of the day, yet we sometimes see the oval, 
the square, the pea, and the pyramid, flash into existence. 
In some branches of traffic the wearer calls loudly for new 
fashions ; but in this, the fashions tread upon each other 
and crowd upon the wearer. The consumption of this 
article is astonishing, and the value, from threepence a 
gross, to one hundred and forty guineas. There seems 
to be hidden treasures couched within this magic circle, 
known only to a few, who extract prodigious fortunes out 
of this useful toy, whilst a far greater number submit to 
the statute of bankruptcy. Trade is like a restive horse, 
can rarely be managed : for where one is carried to the 
end of a successful journey, many are thrown off by the 
way. 

Buttons are made from a great variety of materials, and 
in a great variety of forms. Glass, horn, bone, pearl, iron, 
brass, hard whites, being a mixture of zinc with a small 
quantity of copper ; gilding metal, composed of a great 
proportion of the best copper, and a small quantity of 
zinc. The above kinds comprise about sixty different 
trades or branches. The glass button is not much con- 
sumed in England, but forms an article of exportation ; 
they are made in various shapes and colours. Considerable 



172 HISTORY OF 

quantities are made with tinsel or foil of various colours, 
placed at the back of white plate glass, which gives them 
the appearance of coloured glass ; they are then set in a 
light brass frame, simeloed, plated, or gilt, previously 
prepared with shank, &c. Horn and bone buttons are 
manufactured both for home and foreign consumption, in 
great abundance. Pearl buttons, too, are made by thou- 
sands of grosses ; and iron, by tens of thousands. The 
latter are cast with shanks, and with four holes, in imita- 
tion of bone. They neither require or receive much atten- 
tion after they leave the mould in which they are cast. 
They are annealed, and a little of the rough taken off; 
put into a cylindrical box, and by this means made to 
smooth each other : they are then sent to the japanner, 
who gives them a coat of black varnish, and they are ready 
for sale. One man, with the assistance of two boys, will 
cast from four to five hundred dozens per day. Brass and 
hard whites are also made in great quantities ; they are 
cast, the shanks are laid in the moulds, and the metal 
fastens round them ; they are then turned and polished. 
A great variety are made of brass stamped ; the shanks 
are soldered on, and the face, both in size, form, and 
device, is carried to an almost endless extent. The press 
produces another class, some of which are of a globular 
shape, but quite as numerous, if not more so, than the for- 
mer, in its variations. They are gilt, plated, or simeloed. 
The plain gilt button did formerly employ a great 
number of hands, but it has not been in general use for 
some years, having been superseded by the Florentine. 
This, like the former, is divided into several distinct 
branches ; workmen in the best line receive good wages, 
but find less employment than formerly; a great number 
of boys and females, are employed in the various operations 
of button-making. 

Plated buttons are either made from copper, plated with 



BIRMINGHAM. 173 

silver, or are washed with silver, previous to burnishing 
Simeloing is performed in a very simple manner, similar 
to gilding, but zinc is used instead of gold. Buttons, 
when nicely simeloed, burnished, and laquered, can scarcely 
be distinguished from a common gilt by persons connected 
with the trade, and they will wear nearly as long. 

The manufacture of button shanks forms quite a distinct 
trade. They were originally made by hand, afterwards 
cast, but are now almost exclusively made by machinery. 
A few arc still cast, and some made by hand, for very par- 
ticular sorts of buttons. Mr. R. Heat on invented, and 
brought to the present state of perfection, machinery to 
make button shanks. The machine forms at once the 
shank ready for the button. There are three places in Bir- 
mingham where they are made — the principal one is 
Heaton, Brothers, of Shadwell Street, sons of the inventor, 
where from thirty to forty tons weight are made annually. 
The largest are eight gross to the pound ; the smallest 
forty gross to the pound. About eighty thousand can be 
made per hour. Some idea may be formed of the extent 
of the button trade, when I say, that upwards of six 
hundred millions of button shanks are made in Birming- 
ham annually. The prices of gilt buttons vary, according 
to the quantity of gold used in the process, as little differ- 
ence can be made in the quality or weight of the metal. 
Many improvements, that affect both the health of the 
operator and the profits of the master, have been intro- 
duced into this trade, within the last twenty years, par- 
ticularly in the gilding department. The quicksilver is 
carefully condensed an <\ collected, instead of being suffered 
to fly off, in vapour, as formerly, to the great injury of the 
workman and loss to the master. 

The dirt is carefully collected in every department and 
undergoes the process of refining. The trade of refining ot 
shop-sweep was little known among us till within the last 



174 HISTORY OF 

fifty years. When one refiner only existed, he kept the profits 
of his trade pretty snugly to himself; he used to visit the 
manufactory, take away the sweep, and give the men a 
treat at Christmas. Another refiner crept into the secret 
and began business. They therefore vied with each other 
which should give the best treat. This lasted but for a 
short time, the master stepped in, seized the bone of con- 
tention, took an estimate from each of its value, and 
pocketed the proceeds. Shop-dirt, that used to be sent 
to fill up holes, and make good the roads, is now sold for 
ten shillings the cart-load, to two shillings and sixpence 
the pound. Mr. Taylor is said to have sold his shop-dirt 
for £1000 per annum. 

There are now only three refiners of shop-sweep in 
Birmingham, and I know of only one other place in the 
kingdom where this art is understood, and that is Sheffield. 
Large quantities are annually brought to Birmingham, 
from all parts of the world, to be analyzed .These remarks 
are equally applicable to all trades, where the metals are 
used, from the brass-founder to the goldsmith. The next 
that calls our attention is the 

Buckle. 

Perhaps the shoe, in one form or other, is nearly as 
ancient as the foot. It originally appeared under the 
name of sandal ; this was no other than a sole without 
an upper leather. That fashion has since been inverted, 
and we now, sometimes, see an upper-leather nearly with- 
out a sole. But, whatever was the cut of the shoe, it 
always demanded a fastening. Under the house of 
Plantagenet, it shot horizontally from the foot, like a Dutch 
skate, to an enormous length, so that the extremity was 
fastened to the knee, sometimes with a silver chain, a 
silk lace, or even a packthread string, rather than avoid 
genteel taste. 



BIRMINGHAM. 175 

This thriving beak, drew the attention of the legis- 
lature, who were determined to prune the exorbitant 
shoot ; for, in 1465, we find an order of council, pro- 
hibiting the growth of the shoe toe, to more than two 
inches, under the penalty of a dreadful curse from the 
priest, and, which was worse, the payment of twenty shil- 
lings to the king. 

This fashion, like every other, gave way to time, and 
in its stead, the rose began to bud upon the foot. Which, 
under the house of Tudor, opened in great perfection. 
No shoe was fashionable, without being fastened with a 
full blown rose. Ribbons of every colour, except white, 
the emblem of the depressed house of York, were had in 
esteem ; but the red, like the house of Lancaster, held 
the pre-eminence. Under the house of Stuart, the rose 
withered, which gave rise to the shoe-string-. The beaux 
of that age, ornamented their lower tier with double laces 
of silk, tagged with silver, and the extremities were 
beautified with a small fringe of the same metal. The 
inferior class, wore laces of plain silk, linen, or even a 
thong of leather ; which last is yet to be met with in the 
humble plains of rural life. But I am inclined to think, 
the artists of Birmingham had no great hand in fitting out 
the beau "of the last century. 

The revolution was remarkable for the introduction of 
William, of liberty, and the minute buckle, not differing 
much in size and shape from the horse bean. 

This offspring of fancy, like the clouds, is ever changing. 
The fashion of to-day is thrown into the casting-pot to- 
morrow. 

The buckle seems to have undergone every figure, size, 
and shape of geometrical invention ; it has passed through 
every form in the whole zodiac of Euclid. The large 
square buckle, plated with silver, is the ton of the present 
day. The ladies also, have adopted the reigning taste : 



170 H1STOKY OF 

it is difficult to discover their beautiful little feet, covered 
with an enormous shield of buckle ; and we wonder to see 
the active motive under the massy load. Thus the British 
fair support the manufactures of Birmingham, and thus 
they kill by weight of metal. 

In the Birmingham Chronicle, February 14, 1824, a 
concise account of the rapid advance of this article of 
taste and of commerce, and of its equally rapid decay and 
annihilation, was given by Mr. James Luckcock, who 
having been himself some years in the trade, may be 
admitted to be correct in his information. About the 
year 1778 an impulse was given to the article which had 
hitherto been stationary, by the intioduction of an entirely 
new mode of plating, that of casting the buckle upon 
■the silver, in moulds prepared for the purpose, and the 
substance consisted of tin, with the additon of such other 
metals as should give it greater hardness and durability. 
The facility of working this preparation, and the uncom- 
mon beauty which was thereby attained, soon extended 
the trade infinitely beyond its former limits ; so as that 
about the year 1 788 there were not fewer than from four 
to five thousand pairs of hands employed in the town and 
neighbouring districts, in this article, which seemed to bid 
defiance to any change of fashion or caprice, to remove it 
from being one of our most staple articles of employment 
and profit. Fashion was wonderfully active, and its 
extremes, no doubt, operated to produce its own destruc- 
tion. The Spanish buckle, long and narrow, was enlarged 
to such a size, as in some instances, to require a pad 
to prevent it touching the ground on each side of the 
instep. The Italian taste covered the foot from the 
instep to the the toes, in a beautiful oval or octagon form, 
while the English style was generally oblong, about four 
inches by three, for men's size, and proportionally smaller 
for the ladies. Much ingenuity was displayed in the 



BIRMINGHAM. 177 

different inventions of the chapes, which for the large 
sizes, were so contrived that the shoe should first be 
buckled by the small strap belonging to it, and then a 
large false one should be attached to the double chape, so 
as to cover the whole. 

To any young person of the present day, the size and 
elegance of some of these extremes, would appear incredible, 
and more especially in connection with the low rate at 
which they were manufactured and sold. Some of the 
largest of them, plated on iron frames, stamped into rich 
patterns, with scolloped edges, innumerable piercings, the 
whole surface repaired and beautified by the hand of the 
chaser, and covered with silver as rich and white to the 
eye, as if the whole substance had been of that material, 
with large, highly dressed and blued double chapes — and 
the wholesale price to come within the compass of half-a- 
crown a pair. And again, these same patterns by being 
fine cast, (so as to require neither stamping nor dressing on 
the tops,) and silvered, were turned out most beautiful to 
the eye, at about one shilling a pair ; but were only the 
wear of a day, being shorn of their beauty, if but for once 
splashed with dirt. ■ 

On the other hand, many were made of extravagant 
value. The jeweller, the silversmith, with the steel 
worker, the ornamental workman with his gilding, his 
spangles s and his various ornaments, seemed to vie with 
each other, who should produce the most tempting article 
to the man of fashion or of wealth. Steel buckles being: 
considerably in demand, as high as twenty to thirty 
shillings a pair. 

For about ten years, the trade was in its prime, and 
the ten years following' witnessed its gradual decline and 
total dissolution. 

Mr. L. gives the following statement ; " Let us take 
the four thousand pairs of hands, as stated, and suppose 

2 a 



178 



HISTORY OF 



their weekly gains to average for old and young, ten shillings 
each ; 

This will produce - - - £2000 

Suppose materials ... 2000 

Profit of the Manufacturer, Factor, and Retailer 2000 



6000 
Weeks in the year - - - 52 



Capital employed, if returned only once a year .£"312,000 

And supposing the buckles to sell on the average at 
two shillings and sixpence a pair, this would show two 
millions, four hundred and ninety-six thousand pairs, as 
the quantity annually made. Taking, then, the popula- 
tion of England at twelve millions, and suppose half of 
them to wear buckles, this would allow each wearer a 
new pair every three years, and about half a million of 
pairs for annual exportation ; and this, perhaps, is no 
improbable supposition. On this calculation also, every 
workman would make six hundred and twenty-five pairs 
during the year, which is one dozen pairs per week, or 
two pairs' per day ; which may again be thought a 
reasonable quantity. Admitting these suppositions to be 
any thing- like a fair approximation to the reality, and we 
see the importance the trade once held in the scale of 
individual, loeal, and national prosperity ; and it should 
further be stated, that in addition to the number of hands 
employed as already mentioned, there could not be less 
than three or four hundred occupied in the manufacturing 
of the chapes." 

It should, however, be understood, that these remarks 
and calculations should include Walsall, Bilston, Wolver- 
hampton, and their vicinities, as supplying a considerable 
proportion of the whole. 

This article, like most others of Birmingham manufac- 
ture, will show the great advantages of the division of 
labour. Every buckle that was plated on an iron bottom 



BIRMINGHAM. 179 

and stamped, the master manufacturer had to pass through 
twelve different workmen's hands, to keep a separate 
account with each, and to pay each one on his own charge ; 
and numerous subordinates were employed in addition, 
thus facilitating the production of an article, which, had 
it depended on a single workman, would have been totally 
impracticable. 

Swords. 

Swords are not so ancient as many other weapons of 
defence usedjfn war. The club, the pole-axe, the Spear, and 
the lance, are no doubt more ancient. Swords have not 
been generally used, till within the last four or five 
centuries. Birmingham has been famous for the manufac- 
ture of them for many centuries, and no doubt from its 
earliest infancy. Previous to the American War, however, 
English swords fell into disrepute, and application was 
made, October 1st, 1783, for leave to import swords and 
sword-blades from Germany. A member of the board of 
trade, the Earl of Surrey, afterwards Duke of Norfolk, 
wrote to Mr. Eyre, of Sheffield, to inform him of this 
fact, and to solicit such information as would enable him 
to rebut the statements made upon the inferiority of the 
English blades. The people of Sheffield were makers of 
cutting instruments of the more civil kind ; Mr. Eyre 
therefore, referred the letter to Mr. Gill, of Birmingham. 
Mr. Gill memorialised the lords of the treasury, stating 
that swords could be made by him equal to the German 
ones. 

In 1786, one of the East India orders was divided 
among the English and German manufacturers. Mr. 
Gill obtained an order from the board, to have the swords 
of the two countries tried by a test which reduced the 
blade from thirty-six inches to twenty-nine, from hilt to 
point, by forcing it into a curved state. Four swords only 



180 HISTORY OF 

were rejected, out of two thousand six hundred and fifty- 
four, presented by Mr. Gill ; one thousand four hundred 
and twenty-eight, were presented by the German manufac- 
turers, one thousand four hundred were received, and twenty- 
eight rejected ; the other English makers presented three 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-four, out of which 
only two thousand seven hundred were received, and one 
thousand and eighty-four rejected. This being in pro- 
portion of one to thirteen, in favour of Mr. Gill's swords, 
as compared with the foreign ones, and one to one thousand 
as compared with the others made in England. Sword- 
blades are made from the best cast steel, and considerable 
skill is required, in addition to the best materials, to forge 
them to stand the test to which they are always put to. 
Upon this, therefore, the first operation, depends their 
quality. They are taken from the forge, and undergo the 
first proof. They are struck upon a cylindrical block of 
wood, upon both edges, the operator using- all his strength. 
They are then struck with great force upon each side 
upon a flat slab of very hard wood. One end is then 
placed between two fixed bars of iron, and a hand-wrench 
applied to the other, till the point forms almost a right 
angle with the shoulder. If in any of these operations 
the blade breaks, cracks, or does not recover its shape > 
it is returned to the forger, who is at the loss of his labour 
and the steel. When a bad lot of steel has been in use, 
I have known nineteen out of twenty break. A good 
workman, with good materials, will forge fifty blades 
without producing a bad one. From the time of the 
French Revolution till 1814, a considerable trade was 
carried on in Birmingham in this business. 

In this, like all other trades where the demand is great, 
many divisions of labour take place, and it forms about 
twenty distinct branches, exclusive of the preparers of 
the materials, toolmakers, &c. Many thousands found 



BIRMINGHAM. 181 

employment in Birmingham during the war. Some few 
made fortunes., but many were reduced to penury, after the 
peace of 1814. 

Guns. 

Though the sword and the gun are equal companions 
in war, it does not appear they are of equal original. I 
have already observed, that the sword was the manufacture 
of Birmingham in the time of the Britons. But tradition 
tells us, King William was once lamenting, " That guns 
were not manufactured in his dominions, but that he was 
obliged to procure them from Holland at a great expense, 
and greater difficulty." Sir Richard Newdigate, one of 
the members for the county, being present, told the king 
"That genius resided in Warwickshire, and that he thought 
his constituents could answer his majesty's wishes." — 
The king was pleased with the remark, and the member 
posted to Birmingham. Upon application to a person in 
Digbeth, whose name I forget, the pattern was executed 
with precision, which, when presented to the royal board, 
gave entire satisfaction. Orders were immediately issued 
for large numbers, which have been so frequently repeated, 
that they never lost their road : and the ingenious artists 
have been so amply rewarded, that they have rolled in their 
carriages to this day. Thus the same instrument which is 
death to one man, is genteel life to another. 

Such were the facilities, and so admirable were the 
divisions of labour, during the late French war, that 
thirty thousand stand of arms were supplied to the 
government, monthly; this, upon a moderate calculation 
of the hours of labour, would be two stand of arms per 
minute the year round. This is exclusive of the manu- 
facture of fowling pieces, which forms a distinct and very 
considerable trade. 



l£2 HISTORY OF 

Leather. 

It may seem singular to a modern eye, to view this place 
in the light of one vast tan-yard. Though there is no ap- 
pearance of that necessary article among- us, yet Birming- 
ham was once a famous market for leather. Digbeth not 
only abounded with tanners, but large numbers of hides 
arrived weekly for sale, where the whole country found a 
supply. When the weather would allow, they were ranged 
in columns in the High Street, and at other times de- 
posited in the Leather Hall, at the east end of New Street, 
appropriated for their reception. 

This market was of great antiquity, perhaps not less than 
seven hundred years, and continued till the beginning of 
the present century. We have two officers annually chosen, 
by the name of leather sealers, from a power given them 
by ancient charter, to mark the vendible hides ; but now 
the leather sealers have no duty, but that of taking an 
elegant dinner ; shops are erected upon tan-fats, the 
Leather Hall is gone to destruction, and we are reduced to 
one solitary tanner. 

Iron. 

The iron manufacture in Birmingham is not very ex- 
tensive ; there are no furnaces in the town where the ore 
is first smelted, and only a few where the pigs are reduced 
to bar iron. Aston furnace, now so near Birmingham, 
having long been converted to other purposes, the object of 
establishing which, was for the accommodation afforded by 
the woods in this neighbourhood. 

The ores were raised at a distance, and brought by 
slow and tedious means to this spot for smelting, but 
after the introduction of coke for smelting, which was 
much assisted by the steam engine, introduced in place 
of water wheels, this and similar establishments were 
discontinued, as the smelting could be carried on best 



BIRMINGHAM. 183 

upon the spot where the ore was raised and plenty of coal 
at hand. Plot thus describes the iron works as practised 
in his time, 1686, and as the mode of smelting differs but 
little from that practised at present, except in the substi- 
tution of coke for charcoal, steam power for thetvater-ivheel, 
and the consequent increase in the quantity of iron pro- 
duced by these changes, it will give some idea of the mode 
of converting the stone, or mine, as it is called into iron. 

" When they have gotten their ore, before it is fit for 
the furnace, they burn or calcine it upon the ground, with 
small charcoal, wood, or seacoal, to make it break into 
small pieces, which will be done in three days, and this 
they call annealing it, or firing- it for the furnace. In the 
meanwhile they also heat their furnace for a weeks' time 
with charcoal, without blowing it, which they call seasoning 
it ; and then they bring the ore to the furnace thus pre- 
pared, and throw it in with the charcoal in baskets ; i. e. 
a basket of ore and then a basket of coal. Two vast pairs 
of bellows are placed behind the furnace, and compressed 
alternately by a large wheel turned by water, the fire is 
made so intense that after three days' time the metal will 
begin to run ; still after increasing, till at length in four- 
teen nights' time, they can run a soiv and pigs once in 
twelve hours, which they do in a bed of sand, before the 
mouth of the furnace ; wherein they make one larger far- 
row than the rest, near the timp (where the metal comes 
forth) which is for the soiv , from whence they draw two or 
three and twenty others for the pigs. They bring their 
soios and pigs of iron, when broken asunder and into 
lengths to the forges." " If we look back upon the methods 
of our ancestors, who made iron in foot blasts, or bloomeries, 
by men's treading the bellows, by which way they could 
make but one little lump or bloom of iron in a day, not one 
hundred weight ; leaving as much iron in the slag as they 
got out, whereas now they will make two or three tons of 



I 84 HISTORY OF 

cast iron in twenty-four hours : leaving the slag so poor, 
that the founders cannot melt them again to profit. Not to 
mention the vast advantage they have from the new invention 
of slitting mills, for cutting their bars into rods, above what 
they had anciently." 

It also appears from the same work, that many attempts 
had been made to introduce pit coal for the smelting, which 
he thus describes, " The last effort that was made in this 
country for making- iron with pit coal, was also by raw coal, 
by one Mr. Blewstone, at Wednesbury. Many were of 
opinion that he would succeed in it, but experience, that 
great baffler of speculation, shewed it would not be." 
Any innovation upon established usage, always creates 
prejudice. It was so with the attempted use of coke for 
smelting iron. It was only by time, want of material to 
go on in the old way, and the aid of the steam engine, that 
the prejudice gradually subsided, and the present mode was 
generally adopted for this purpose. 

The fires in the furnaces are not now suffered to go 
out, unless to undergo repairs, and two sets of workmen 
keep them in constant work. A single furnace will now 
produce in twenty-four hours, from eight to twelve tons of 
cast iron, which require twenty-four to thirty-six tons of 
raw mine, thirty to forty-four tons of coal, and eight to twelve 
tons of limestone, as a flux, that is, ninety-two tons of 
materials are consumed to produce twelve tons of iron. 

The fluctuation in the prices of iron at different periods 
is very considerable; in 1825, it rose to £14 per ton; 
in 1826 it was reduced to £8, and in 1830 to £5 5s. It 
is now sold for about £7 per ton. 

Steel. 

The progress of arts, is equal to the progress of time ; 
they began, and will end together. Though some of both 
are lost, yet they both accumulate. 



BIRMINGHAM. 



185 



The manufacture of iron, in Birmingham, is ancient be- 
yond research ; that of steel is of modern date. 

Pride is inseparable from the human character ; the man 
without it, is the man without breath. We trace it in 
various forms, through every degree of people ; but like 
those objects about us, it is best discovered in our own 
sphere; those above, and those below us, rather escape our 
notice ; envy attacks an equal. Pride induced the pope to 
look with contempt on the European princes, and it now 
induces them to return the compliment ; it taught insolence 
to the Spaniard, selfishness to the Dutch ; it teaches the 
rival nations of France and England to contend for power. 
Pride induced a late high bailiff, at the proclamation of our 
Michaelmas fair, to hold his wand two feet higher than the 
usual rest, that he might dazzle the crowd with a beautiful 
glove hanging pendant, a ruffle curiously wrought, a ring 
set with brilliants, and a hand delicately white. Pride 
preserves a man from mean actions, it throws him upon 
meaner ; it whets the sword for destruction, it urges the 
laudable acts of humanity, it is the universal hinge on 
which we move, it glides the gentle stream of usefulness, 
it overflows the mounds of reason, and swells into a de- 
si ructive flood ; like the sun, in his milder rays, it animates 
and draws us towards perfection ; but, like him, in its 
fiercer beams, it scorches and destroys. 

Money is not the necessary attendant of pride, for it 
abounds no where more than in the lowest ranks. It adds 
a sprucer air to a Sunday dress, casts a look of disdain from 
a bundle of rags ; it boasts the honour of a family, while 
poverty unites a sole and upper-leather with a bandage of 
shopthread. There are people who even 'pride themselves 
in humility. 

This dangerous good, this necessary evil, supports the 
female character ; without it, the brightest part of the 
creation would degenerate. It will be asked, " What 

2 B 



1.86 HISTORY OF 

portion may be allowed?" Prudence will answer, " As 
much as you please, but not to disgust." It is equally 
found in the senate-house, and the button-shop ; the scene 
of action is the scene of pride. He who makes steel, 
prides himself in carrying the art one step higher than he 
who makes iron. 

This art appeared amongst us in the seventeenth century ; 
was introduced by the family of Kettle. The name of 
Steelhouse Lane will convey to posterity the situation of 
the works, the commercial spirit of Birmingham will 
convey the produce to the antipodes. 

From this warm, but dismal climate, issues the button 
which shines on the breast, and the bayonet intended to 
pierce it; the lancet, which bleeds the man, and the rowel, 
the horse ; the lock which preserves the beloved bottle, 
and the screw to uncork it ; the needle, equally obedient 
to the thimble and the pole. 

Steel Pens 

Are a modern invention, and did not become an 
article of general consumption, till within the last six 
years. They formerly sold at such high prices, that they 
were beyond the reach of many persons. Eighteen 
shillings have been paid for a dozen, and for several years 
they remained at prices varying from twelve shillings to 
twenty-four per gross. 

Four years ago, three shillings per gross was a small 
price, but now they can be bought for sixpence per gross. 
These, of course, are like many other things, made to sell. 
A good article is regularly sold at from threepence to 
sixpence per dozen, retail. Many thousands of grosses 
are made weekly in Birmingham. In one manufactory, 
six thousand grosses can be made in one week. They 
are used in many schools, and more or less in most offices 
in this part of the country. 



BIRMINGHAM 187 

Brass Works. 

The manufacture of brass was introduced by the family 
of Turner, in about 1740, who erected those works at the 
south end of Coleshill Street ; then, near two hundred 
yards beyond the buildings, but now the buildings extend 
half a mile beyond them. 

Under the black clouds which arose from this corpulent 
tunnel, some of the trades collected their daily supply of 
brass; but the major part was drawn from the Macclesfield, 
Cheadle, and Bristol Companies. 

" Causes are known by their effects ;" the fine feelings 
of the heart are easily read in the features of the face : 
the still operations of the mind, are discovered by the 
rougher operations of the hand. Every creature is fond 
of power, from that noble head of the creation, man, 
who devours man, down to that insignificant mite, who 
devours his cheese : every man strives to be free himself 
and to shackle another. Where there is power of any 
kind, whether in the hands of a prince, a people, a body 
of men, or a private person, there is a propensity to 
abuse it : abuse of power will everlastingly seek itself a 
remedy, and frequently find it; nay, even this remedy 
may in time degenerate to abuse, and call loudly for 
another. 

Brass is an object of some magnitude., in the trades of 
Birmingham ; the consumption is said to be a thousand 
tons per annum. The manufacture of this , useful article 
had long been in few and opulent hands, who, instead of 
making the humble bow for favours received, acted with 
despotic sovereignty, established their own laws, chose 
their customers, directed the price, and governed the 
market. In 1780, the article rose, either through caprice, 
or necessity, perhaps the former, from £72 a ton, to £84, 
the result was, an advance upon the goods manufactured. 



188 



HISTORY OF 



followed by a number of counter-orders, and a stagnation 
of business. 

In 1781, a person, from affection to the user, or resent- 
ment to the maker, perhaps the latter, harangued the 
public in the weekly papers ; censured the arbitrary 
measures of the brazen sovereigns, showed their dangerous 
influence over the trades of the town, and the easy manner 
in which works of our own might be constructed — good 
often arises out of evil; this fiery match, dipt in brimstone, 
quickly kindled another furnace in Birmingham. Public 
meetings were advertised, a committee appointed, and 
subscriptions opened to fill two hundred shares, of £100 
each, deemed a sufficient capital ; each proprietor of a 
share, to purchase one ton of brass annually. Works 
were immediately erected upon the banks of the canal, 
for the advantage of water carriage, and the whole was 
conducted with the true spirit of Birmingham freedom. 

The old companies, which we may justly consider the 
directors of a South Sea bubble in miniature, sunk the 
price from £84 to £56. Two inferences arise from 
this measure; that their profits were once very high, 
or were now very low ; and like some former monarchs, in 
the abuse of power, they repented one day too late. 

Brass Foundry. 
The curious art before us, is, perhaps, less ancient than 
profitable, and less healthful than either. I shall not 
inquire whose grandfather was the first brassfounder 
here, but shall leave their grandsons to settle that 
important point with my successor, who shall next write 
the history of Birmingham. Whoever was the first 
I believe he figured in the reign of King William; 
but, though he sold his productions at an excessive price, 
he did not, like the moderns, possess the art of acquiring 
a fortune; but now the master knows the way to affluence, 



BIRMINGHAM. 189 

and the servant to liquor. Until the establishment of 
brass works in Birmingham, the consumption was less 
than it has ever been since. There was no doubt a 
considerable demand in this neighbourhood, before the 
establishment of Turner's works, or where would so 
large a quantity, which these works were capable of 
producing, find a market. Copper and zinc or speltre, 
the components of brass, are not raised in this neighbour- 
hood, therefore there could be no inducement to establish 
works for smelting and mixing only, unless with some 
prospect of a consumption on the spot. At Ecton Hill, 
in the parish of Welton, small quantities of copper ore 
have been raised. A mine was worked there a few years, 
but soon discontinued, on account of the poverty of the 
ores, or the imperfect mode of .smelting. At this place 
some bellows made entirely of wood were in use, which 
Plot calls famous, and to see which he travelled into 
Derbyshire, and described minutely. This therefore gives 
the trade of the brassfounder in 1740, considerable import- 
ance. The conduct of these brazen monopolists in raising 
the price of the article in 1780, shews the demand was 
equal to the supply. 

I need not stay to enumerate the articles made in brass, 
both useful and ornamental; suffice it to say, that 
numerous as are the productions of this useful metal, 
they are all more or less made here. And the trade in all 
its branches, which time, caprice, fashion, taste, and 
ingenuity have introduced, cannot be out-numbered by any 
other trade or profession in this place. The great com- 
petition which has existed many years, and which still 
continues, has reduced this trade to a level of many, and 
below the level of some other trades, both for master and 
workman. The latter having received considerably more 
for workmanship, than the master now sells the article for 
complete. Workmen, used to boast of earning their 



190 HISTORY OF 

guinea a day, and I have known an apprentice within the 
last ten years, earn for his master fifteen shillings in one 
day ; I have known twenty-three persons employed in a 
manufactory, where steam power was used to propel the 
lathes in the simple operation of dressing- O. G. nobs 
for drawer handles. One boy was kept constantly at 
drilling the holes in the nuts, and another constantly 
tapping or putting on the thread. An apprentice at the 
age of eighteen, has been kept three weeks doing nothing 
else but drilling the hole to admit the end of the handle. 
This would be performed by the other apprentices in turn, 
many of whom would do nothing but turn the heads of 
the nobs, for three months together. Four or five 
boys would be kept constantly taking- off the rough from 
the casting, as many more working after them, putting 
the screw upon the shank. By these means, a great 
quantity of these things would be produced. It is by 
these minute divisions of labour only, that such immense 
quantities of articles are brought into the market, and 
sold at prices that astonish those unconnected with the 
trade. 

Pins 

Are made from the best brass wire, which is drawn by 
steam power, by being passed successively through a set 
of holes in a steel plate, each hole being less than the pre- 
ceding one. The wire goes through many annealings in 
the course of this process, and is cleaned with aquafortis. 
The heads are formed of fine wire, much less in proportion 
to the weight of the pin. It is wound into ringlets, similar 
to a brace spring. They are cut off with shears, to the 
proper length. This is a nice operation, and requires 
much skill to perform with the required precision. A 
man will earn £2 per week at this simple operation, and 
although several of the wires are cut at once, he will 



BIRMINGHAM. 191 

rarely miss cutting them exact. The wire to form the 
body, is drawn out into straight lengths from the coil, 
and is then cut into other lengths for the pointer. A 
circular file, turned by steam power, is used to form the 
point ; this is also a nice operation. As many as can be 
held conveniently, are pointed at once, and cut off to a 
guage the length the pin is to be, both ends being pointed 
first. The wire is again pointed, and again cut, till the 
length is exhausted and a new one taken. Children are 
employed in putting on the heads, mostly under the 
superintendence of women. It is performed by a simple 
process, and the head is made secure by being struck by a 
small stamp. The pin then passes through the process of 
cleaning in aquafortis, and is then boiled in a solution of 
tin, which gives them the white appearance they have 
when bought. They are afterwards dried in bran, 
and are then weighed, or put upon paper ready for sale. 

Nails. 

In most occupations, the profit of the master and the 
journeyman bear a proportion. If the former is able to 
figure in genteel life, the latter is able to figure in silk 
stockings. If the master can afford to allow upon his 
goods ten per cent, discount for money, the servant can 
afford to squander half his wages. In a worn-down trade, 
where the tides of profit are reduced to a low ebb, and 
where imprudence sets her foot upon the premises, the 
master and the man starve together. Only half this is our 
present case. 

The art of nail-making is one of the most ancient among 
us ; we safely charge its antiquity with four figures. We 
cannot consider it a trade in, so much as of Birmingham ; 
for we have but few nailmakers left in the town; our nailers 
are chiefly masters, and rather opulent. The manufacturers 
are so scattered round the country, that we cannot travel 



192 HISTORY OF 

far, in any direction, out of the sound of the nail-hammer. 
But Birmingham, like a powerful magnet, draws the produce 
of the anvil to herself. 

When I first approached her, from Walsall, in 1741, I 
was surprised at the number of blacksmiths' shops upon the 
road; and could not conceive how a country, though 
populous, could support so many people of the same occu- 
pation. In some of these shops I observed one or more 
females, stripped of their upper garment, and not overcharged 
with their lower, wielding the hammer with all the grace 
of the sex. The beauties of their face were rather eclipsed 
by the smut of the anvil ; or, in poetical phrase, the tincture 
of the forge had taken possession of those lips, which might 
have been taken by the kiss. Struck with the novelty, I 
inquired, et Whether the ladies in this country shod horses ?" 
but was answered, with a smile, " They are nailers." 

A fire without heat, a nailer of a fair complexion, or one 
who despises the tankard, are equally rare among them. 
His whole system of faith maybe comprised in one article. 
That the slender twopenny mug, used in a public-house, is 
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. 

While the master reaps the harvest of plenty, the work- 
man submits to the scanty gleanings of penury, a thin habit, 
an early old age, and a figure bending towards the earth. 
Plenty comes not near his dwelling, except of rags, and of 
children. But few recruits arise from his nail-shop, except 
for the army. His hammer is worn into deep hollows, 
fitting the fingers of a dark and plump hand, hard as the 
timber it wears. His face, like the moon, is often seen 
through a cloud. 

Cut Nails. 

This is one of the many inventions which ingenuity 
suggests, and capital can carry to any extent. The old 
nailer required little capital to start him in business. A 



BIRMINGHAM. 



193 



bundle of iron, a pair of bellows, a hammer, and an anvil, 
would be all he would require, his own ingenuity would 
overcome every other obstacle, and supply every other 
want. Nails were first cut by hand presses, but the presses 
are now worked by machinery, propelled by steam power. 
Sheet iron rolled to various thicknesses, to suit the various 
kinds of nails to be cut are divided into strips, just as wide 
as the nail is required to be long, this is performed by 
circular sheers, the strips are then straightened and applied 
to the press. Many useful sorts of nails are produced by 
these means, to the amount of many tons annually. Great 
quantities of nails are made by casting them in rows similar 
to buttons, or any other small article, both of iron, brass, 
and brass heads, only the spikes of the latter being laid in 
the mould, and the metal fastens round them. 

Bellows. 

Man first catches the profession; the profession after- 
wards moulds the man. In whatever profession we engage, 
we assume its character, become a part of v it, vindicate its 
honour, its eminence, its antiquity ; or feel a wound through 
its sides. Though there maybe no more pride in a minister 
of state, who opens a budget, than a tinker who carries 
one, yet they equally contend for the honour of their trade. 

The bellows-maker proclaims the honour of his art, by 
observing, he alone produces that instrument which com- 
mands the winds; his soft breeze, like that of the south, 
counteracts the chill blasts of winter ; by his 'efforts like 
those of the sun, the world receives light ; he creates when 
he pleases, and gives breath when he creates. In his caverns 
the winds sleep at pleasure ; and by his orders they set 
Europe in flames. He farther pretends, that the antiquity 
of his occupation will appear from the plenty of elm, once 
in the neighbourhood, but long cut up for his use ; that the 
leather-market in Birmingham, for many ages, furnished 

2 c 



194 HISTORY OF 

him with sides ; and though the manufacture of iron is 
allowed to be extremely ancient, yet the smith could not 
procure his heat without a blast, nor could that blast be 
raised without the bellows. One inference will arise from 
these remarks, that bellows-making is one of the oldest 
trades in Birmingham. 

Thread. 

We, who reside in the interior parts of the kingdom, 
may observe the first traces of a river issue from its foun- 
tain ; the current so extremely small, that if a bottle of 
liquor, distilled through the urinary vessels, was discharged 
into its course, it would manifestly augment the water, and 
quicken the stream : the reviving bottle, having added 
spirits to the man, seems to add spirits to the river. If we 
pursue this river, winding through one hundred and thirty 
miles, we shall observe it collect strength as it runs, expand 
its borders, swell into consequence, employ multitudes of 
people, carry wealth in its bosom, and exactly resemble 
thread-making in Birmingham. If we represent to our 
idea, a man able to employ three or four people, himself in 
an apron, one of the number ; but being unable to write his 
name, shews his attachment to the christian religion, by 
signing the cross to receipts ; whose method of book-keep- 
ing, like that of the publican, is a door and a lump of chalk; 
producing a book which none can peruse but himself; who 
having- manufactured 401b. weight of thread, of divers 
colours, and rammed it into a pair of leather bags, some- 
thing larger than a pair of boots, which we might deem the 
arms of his trade empaled; slung them on a horse, and 
placed himself on the top, by way of a crest ; visits an ad- 
jacent market, to starve with his goods at a stall, or retail 
them to the mercer, nor return without the money- — we 
shall see a thread-maker of 1652. If we pursue this occu- 
pation, winding through the mazes of one hundred and 



BIRMINGHAM. 195 

thirty years, we shall enlarge its boundaries, multiply its 
people, increase its consequence and wealth, till 1782, when 
we behold the master in possession of correct accounts, the 
apron thrown aside, the stall kicked over, the bags tossed 
into the garret, and the mercer overlooked in the grand 
prospect of exportation. We farther behold him take the 
lead in provincial concerns, step into his own carriage, and 
hold the king's commission as a magistrate. 

Printing, 
By John Baskerville. 

The pen of an historian rejoices in the actions of the 
great ; the fame of the deserving, like an oak tree, is of 
sluggish growth. The present generation becomes debtor 
to him who excels, but the future will discharge that debt 
with more than simple interest. The still voice of fame 
may warble in his ears towards the close of life, but her 
trumpet seldom sounds in full clarion, till those ears are 
stopped with the finger of death. 

This son of genius was born at Wolverley, in the county 
of Worcester, in 1 706 ; heir to a personal estate of £60 per 
annum, which fifty years after, while in his own possession, 
had increased to £90. He was trained to a stonecutter ; 
but, in 1726, became a writing master in Birmingham. In 
1737, he taught school in the Bull Ring, and is said to have 
written an excellent hand. 

As painting suited his talents, he entered into the lucra- 
tive branch of japanning, and resided at No. 22, in Moor 
Street. 

He took in 1745, a building lease of eight acres, two 
furlongs north-west of the town, to which he gave the name 
of Easy -Hill, converted into a littlelEden, and built a house 
in the centre ; but the town, as if conscious of his merit, 
followed his retreat, and surrounded it with buildings. 
Here he continued the business of a japanner for life ; his 



196 HISTORY OF 

carriage, in each pannel of which was a distinct picture, 
might be considered the pattern-card of his trade, and 
was drawn by a beautiful pair of cream-coloured horses. 

His inclination for letters induced him, in 1750, to turn 
his thoughts towards the press. He spent many years in 
the uncertain pursuit, sunk £600 before he could produce 
one letter to please himself, and some thousands before the 
shallow stream of profit began to flow. 

His first attempt, in 1756, was a quarto edition of Virgil, 
price one guinea, now worth several. — He afterwards printed 
Paradise Lost, the Bible, Common Prayer, Roman and 
English Classics, &c. in various sizes, with more satisfac- 
tion to the literary world than emolument to himself. 

In 1765, he applied to his friend, Dr. Franklin, then at 
Paris, and now ambassador from America, to sound the 
literati, respecting the purchase of his types ; but received 
for answer, " That the French, reduced by the war of 
1756, were so far from pursuing schemes of taste, that they 
were unable to repair their public buildings, but suffered 
the scaffolding to rot before them." 

In private life he was a humourist ; idle in the extreme ; 
but his invention was of the true Birmingham model, active. 
He could well design, but procured others to execute ; 
wherever he found merit, he caressed it. He was remarkably 
polite to the stranger, fond of shew ; a figure rather of the 
smaller size, and delighted to adorn that figure with gold 
lace. During the twenty-five years I knew him, though 
in the decline of life, he retained the singular traces of a 
handsome man. If he exhibited a peevish temper, we may 
consider, goodnature and intense thinking are not always 
found together. Taste accompanied him through the dif- 
ferent walks of agriculture, architecture, and the finer arts. 
Whatever passed through his fingers, bore the lively marks 
of John Baskerville. His aversion to Christianity would 
not suffer him to lie among Christians ; he therefore erected 



BIRMINGHAM. 197 

a mausoleum in his own grounds for his remains, and died 
without issue, in 1775, at the age of sixty-nine. — Many 
efforts were used after his death to dispose of the types ; but, 
to the lasting- discredit of the British nation, no purchaser 
could be found in the whole commonwealth of letters. The 
universities coldly rejected the offer. The London book- 
sellers understood no science like that of profit. The 
valuable property therefore lay a dead weight, till purchased 
by a literary society at Paris, in 1779, for £3700 

It is an old remark, that no country abounds with genius 
so much as this island ; and it is a remark nearly as old, 
that genius is nowhere so little rewarded ; how else came 
Dryden, Goldsmith, and Chatterton to want bread ? Is 
merit, like a flower of the field, too common to attract 
notice ? or is the use of money beneath the care of exalted 
talents ? 

Invention seldom pays the inventor. If you ask, what 
fortune Baskerville ought to have been rewarded with? 
" The most which can be comprised in five figures." If you 
farther ask, what he possessed ? " The least ; but none of 
it squeezed from the press." What will the shade of this 
great man think, if capable of thinking, that he has spent 
a fortune of opulence, and a life of genius, in carrying to 
perfection the greatest of all human inventions; and his 
productions, slighted by his country, were hawked over 
Europe, in quest of a bidder ? his example has since taught 
others to equal him. 

We must revere, if we do not imitate, the taste and 
economy of the French nation, who, brought by the British 
arms, in 1762, to the verge of ruin, rising above distress, 
were able, in seventeen years, to purchase Baskerville's 
elegant types, and expend £100,000 in printing the works 
of Voltaire ! 



198 HISTORY OF 

Brewery. 

The two props of eating and drinking, like the two legs 
of a man, support his body. Without them, he would 
make but a miserable shift. They give equal relief, are 
nearly of equal standing. If the antiquary finds pleasure 
in the researches of a few centuries, what will he find in 
these two amusements ? They are the two oldest fashions 
we know ! He may readily trace their origin to Adam. 
He may pursue, with some precision, the fashions of dress, 
through 5000 years, but the fashions of eating and drink- 
ing, are, at least, one day older, The love of life, the 
desire of the sex towards each other, the fear of death, and 
the relish for food, make a part cf our nature, and are 
planted in us for the preservation of our race. If the 
pleasure of infusing existence was no greater than that of 
destroying it ; if the dread of death, was no more than that 
of sleep ; and the pleasure of taking sustenance, no greater 
than that of discharging it, annihilation would follow. The 
first thing we learn, is to cry for food ; the last, to die 
when we cease to take it. Could we sustain life without 
it, or procure it without trouble, the manufactures would 
cease. Invention might assist us with regard to fire and 
clothing, but there is no food without labour. One would 
think the Israelites must have made but a despicable figure 
in the eyes of the active, philosophical, or commercial world, 
for spending forty years idle in the wilderness. It is no 
wonder want of employment bred discontent. 

In 1752, a brewery was instituted in the Hinkleys ; but, 
as the practice of the inhabitants was to brew their own 
drink, it fell, for want of success. In 1782, another was 
erected in Moseley Street. 

A person from London, in 1784, erected a brewery near 
the Ikenield Street (Warston Lane,) to furnish the town 
with porter in the London style. This is supplied by a 



BIRMINGHAM. 199 

small rivulet two hundred yards distant ; which, in the year 
1400, guarded a castle inhabited by a branch of the Bir- 
mingham family. Thus the humble water, as if attentive 
to the service of man, still retains its ancient use of pre- 
serving life. Its former master kept it for his private 
benefit ; its present, sells it for his. It then secured the 
property of the owner, it now wastes that of the user. 
From the extensive scale upon which this work is pursued, 
the proprietor may be said " to barrel up a river ;" and the in- 
habitants, " to swallow a stream which ran useless for ages." 
This brewery is now carried on by the " Wharstone and 
Deritend Brewery Company" who have an establishment 
in Deritend, as their name imports ; there is also the 
" Broad Street Breiuery Company" and numerous brew- 
eries carried on by private individuals. Our townsmen 
are not such drunkards as they are said to have been thirty 
or forty years ago ; those who would have been drunkards, 
have joined the Temperance Society, and consume a pound 
and a half of butcher's meat, a nice little chicken and a 
corner of a venison pie, at a meal ; and instead of a red nose, 
or an emaciated countenance, they carry a portly " brum- 
magem belly," and a face as round as a new copper kettle. 

Umbrella. 

The manufacture of plated hollow ware, umbrellas, &c, 
are of modern date. In 1780, umbrellas were first used 
in Birmingham, but some years passed away before they 
became an article of general use, scoffs, jeers, and "wicked 
wit," had a long contest with comfort and convenience; 
but after seven or eight years, wit lay sprawling on all-fours, 
but being of a sprightly temperament he sprang- up to try 
his powers upon another subject. A Jew, who scents 
profit, as an eagle scents his prey, or a mouse a bit of 
cheese, was the first merchant who carried umbrellas, of 
Birmingham manufacture, out of the town. The article 



200 HISTORY OF 

was first made of oiled cloth, copper stretchers, a wooden 
stick, and a ring to hang it up by. It is now made of 
silk, or gingham, whalebone ribs, iron stretchers, a bamboo 
cane, or copper tubing for the stick, the end mounted by 
an ivory or pressed horn hook, or the head of Wellington, 
Brougham, Punch, or some other great man, carved in 
ivory. From eighty to one hundred men, and from five to 
six hundred children, are employed in the trade ; and sets 
for five thousand gross of umbrellas are annually made. 

Professors also increase with mechanics, for the medical 
gentlemen, who, in 1781, were twenty-four, are, in 1791, 
forty-three, and in 1834, nearly innumerable. Those of 
the law held the same proportion, and are multitudinous. 

To enumerate the great variety of occupations among us, 
would be as useless, and as unentertaining to the reader, 
perhaps to the writer, as to count the pebbles in the street. 

Having therefore visited a few, by way of specimen, I 
shall desist from further pursuit, and wheel of in a 

Hackney Coach. 

Wherever the view of profit opens, the eyes of a Bir- 
mingham man are open to see it. 

In 1775, a person was determined to try if a hackney 
coach would take with the inhabitants ■. He had not 
mounted the box many times before he inadvertently 
dropped the expression, " thirty shillings a day !" The 
word was attended with all the powers of magic, for in- 
stantaneously a second rolled into the circus. And these 
elevated sons of the lash are now augmented to seventy- 
one, whom we may justly denominate a club of tippling 
deities, who preside over weddings, christenings, and plea- 
surable excursions. 

It would give satisfaction to the curious calculator, could 
any mode be found of discovering the returns of trade, 
made by the united inhabitants. But the question is com- 



BIRMINGHAM. 201 

plicated. It only admits of surmise. From comparing 
many instances in various ranks among us, I have been led 
to suppose, that the weekly returns exceed the annual rent 
of the buildings. And as these rents are nearly ascertained, 
perhaps, we may conclude, that those returns are about 
£100,000., and allowing for holidays about £4,000,000, a 
year. 

Bank. 

Perhaps a public bank is as necessary to the health of 
the commercial body, as exercise to the natural. The 
circulation of the blood and spirits are promoted by one, 
as are cash and bills by the other ; and a stagnation is 
equally detrimental to both. Few places are without ; yet 
Birmingham, famous in the annals of traffic, could boast 
no such claim. To remedy this defect, about every tenth 
trader was a banker, or, a retailer of cash. At the head 
of these were marshalled the whole train of drapers and 
grocers, till the year 1765, when a regular bank was con- 
stituted by Messrs. Taylor and Lloyd, two opulent trades- 
men, whose credit being equal to that of the bank of 
England, quickly collected the shining rays of sterling 
property into its focus. — Wherever the earth produces 
grass, an animal will be found to eat it. Success produced 
a second bank, by Robert Coales, Esq., a third by Francis 
Goodall, Esq. & Co.; and in 1791, a fourth by Isaac 
Spooner, Esq. & Co. 

In 1824, the Birmingham tradesmen were accommodated 
by the following banks : — 

Messrs. Attwoods and Spooners 

Taylors and Lloyds 

Moilliet, Smith, and Pearson 

Smith, Gibbins, Goode, and Co. 

Rottons and Co. 

Galtor and James. 

2 D 



202 HISTORY OF 

All of these banks withstood the frenzied panic of 1825, 
excepting Smith, Gibbins, Goode, and Co., and the result 
of their bankruptcy has proved that their assets were equal 
to their demands, had not the extraordinary " run " which 
they suffered precipitated a failure. 

Birmingham has partaken of the general attachment to 
joint stock banks which has pervaded the kingdom since 1825, 
and two of the banks which were tested by the panic, and 
two others since established, have given way to the general 
feeling 1 , finding the quantity of business unable to afford 
their usual profit. The banks are now, (1834), as follow : — 
Messrs. Attwood and Spooners 
Taylors and Lloyds 
Moilliet, Smith, and Moilliet 
The Birmingham Banking Company 
Bank of Birmingham 
Bank of England, Branch 
Northern and Central Bank of England, ditto. 
National Provincial, ditto. 
Commercial, ditto. 
The two Birmingham companies have erected very 
splendid buildings in which to carry on their business ; — 
the Bank of Birmingham, partly, and the Banking Com- 
pany, mainly from the premiums given for shares after the 
few first allotments. 

Wealth. 

I have often taken the liberty of wandering rather wide 
of Birmingham, in my historical remarks ; but in this 
visionary chapter, 1 must, like Anson, take the liberty of 
compassing the globe. By the laws of the quill, an author, 
under severe penalties, is forbid to sleep ; nay, if he suffers 
a reader to sleep, he may, like a woman guilty of petty 
treason, be condemned to the flames ; but he is no where 
forbid to play, or to shift his station; he who plays, may 



BIRMINGHAM. 203 

amuse another as much as himself, and we all know, he who 
writes is often, through poverty, obliged to shift his station. 

If we survey this little world, vast in our idea, but small 
compared to immensity, we shall find it crusted over with 
property, fixed and moveable. Upon this crusty world, 
subsist animals of various kinds ; one of which, something 
short of six feet, who moves erect, and seems the only one 
without a tail, takes the lead in pride, and in the command 
of this property. Fond of power, and conscious that pos- 
sessions give it, he is ever attempting 1 by force, fraud, or 
laudable means, to arrive at both. 

Fixed property bears a value according to its situation ; 
ten thousand acres in a place like London, and its environs, 
would be an immense fortune, such as no man ever 
possessed; while ten thousand, in some parts would not be 
worth a shilling. No king to govern, no subject to submit, 
no market to exhibit property, no property to exhibit, 
instead of striving to get possession, he would; if cast on 
the spot, strive to get away. Thus assemblages of people 
mark a place with value. 

Moveable property is of two sorts, that which, with the 
assistance of man, arises from the earth ; and the produc- 
tions of art, which wholly arise from his labour. A small 
degree of industry supplies the wants of nature, a little 
more furnishes the comforts of life, and a farther little, the 
luxuries. A man, by labour, first removes his own wants, 
then, with the overplus of that labour, purchases the labour 
of another. Thus, by furnishing a hat for the barber, the 
hatter procures a wig for himself: the tailor, by making 
a coat for another, is enabled to buy cloth for his own. 
It follows, the larger the body of people, the more likely to 
cultivate a spirit of industry; the greater that industry, 
the greater its produce ; consequently, the more they will 
supply the calls of others, and the more lucrative will be 
the returns to themselves. 



204 HISTORY OF 

It may be asked, what is the meaning of the word rich ? 
Some have termed it, a little more than a man has ; 
others, the possession of a certain sum, not very small ; 
others again, as much as will content him. Perhaps all 
are wrong. A man may be rich, possessed only of one 
hundred pounds : he may be poor, possessed of one hundred 
thousand. He alone is rich, whose income is more than 
he uses. 

Industry, though excellent, will perform but half the 
work ; she must be assisted by economy ; without this, a 
ministerial fortune would be defective. These two qualities, 
separated from each other, like a knife from the handle, 
are of little use ; but like that, they become valuable when 
united. Economy without industry, will barely appear 
in a whole coat ; industry without economy, will appear 
in rags. The first is detrimental to the community, by 
preventing the circulation of property, the last is detri- 
mental to itself. It is a singular remark, that even 
industry is sometimes the way to poverty. Industry, like 
a new cast guinea, retains its sterling- value, but, like that, 
it will not pass currently till it receives a sovereign stamp ; 
economy is the stamp which gives it currency. I well 
knew a man who began business with £1500. Industry 
seemed the end for which he was made, and in which he 
wore himself out. While he laboured from four in the 
morning till eight at night, in the construction of gimlets, 
his family consumed twice his produce. Had he spent 
less time at the anvil, and more in teaching the lessons 
of frugality, he might have lived in credit. Thus the 
father was ruined by industry, and his children have, for 
many years, been fixed on the parish books. The people 
of Birmingham are more apt to get than to keep. 

Though a man, by his labour, may treat himself with 
many things, yet he seldom grows rich. Riches are 
generally acquired by purchasing the labour of others. 



BIRMINGHAM. 205 

He who buys the labour of one hundred people, may 
acquire ten times as much as by his own. 

What then has that capricious damsel, Fortune, to do 
in this chain of argument ? Nothing. He who has capa- 
city, attention, and economy, has a fortune within himself. 
She does not command him, he commands her. 

Having- explained the word riches, and pointed out the 
road to them, let us examine their use. They enable a 
man with great facility to shake off an old friend, once an 
equal ; and forbid access to inferiors, except a toad-eater. 
Sometimes they add to his name, the pretty appendage of 
Right Honourable, Bart., or Esq. an addition much coveted, 
which, should he happen to become an author, is an easy 
passport through the gates of fame. His very features 
seem to take a turn from his fortune, and a curious eye 
may easily read in his face, the word consequence. They 
change the tone of his voice from the submissive to the 
commanding, in which he well knows how to throw in a 
few graces. His style is convincing. Money is of singular 
efficacy ; it clears his head, refines his sense, points his 
joke. The weight of his fortune adds weight to his argu- 
ment. If, my dear reader, you have been a silent spectator 
at the Shakspeare Tavern ; a general meeting for public 
business ; the low Bailiffs feast ; at Hobson's or at Jones', 
you may have observed many a smart thing said, unheeded, 
by the man without money ; and many a paltry one echoed 
with applause, from the man with it. The room in silent 
attention hears one, while the other can scarcely hear 
himself. They direct a man to various ways of being 
carried with great ease, who is too idle to carry himself; 
nay, they invert the order of things, for we often behold 
two men, who seem hungry, carry one who is full fed. 
They add refinement to his palate, prominence to his belly, 
scent to his leavings, scarlet to his nose. They frequently 
ward off old age. The ancient rules of moderation being 



206 HISTORY OF 

broken, luxury enters in all her pomp, followed by a group 
of diseases, with a physician in their train, and the rector 
in his. Phials, prayers, tears, and gallipots, close the sad 
scene, and the individual has the honour to rot in state, 
before old age can advance. His place may be readily 
supplied with a, joyful mourner. 

There are people among us, who manage matters with 
such address, that they pay their way with credit, live 
after the rate of £500 or £600 a y ear, without a shilling 
of their own. In doubtful prospects, the shadow may be 
taken for the substance. A tree may flourish to the sight, 
and be rotten at the root. There are others, who have 
acquired £20,000, yet appear to the eye much in the style 
of journeymen. He who has been long inured to his 
dusty shops, and whose shops have paid him, deems it a 
sin to forsake them. 

The wealth of our principal inhabitants, December the 
10th, 1783, may be comprised in the following table. 
Perhaps we have 

3 who possess upwards of £100,000. each. 

7 50,000 

8 30,000 

17 20,000 

80 10,000 

94 5 5 000 

Some one may ask, " How came you to know what 
property the inhabitants are possessed of; they never told 
you ?" I answer, the man long accustomed to shoot with 
a gun, cannot be a bad shooter ; he will sometimes hit the 
mark, seldom be far from it. The man who has guessed 
for thirty years, cannot be a bad guesser. 

I have written, you see, an extensive chapter, consisting 
of many pages, merely for the sake of a few figures, which 
compose six crabbed lines, cut short at both ends. Instead 
of making a little cabinet to hold the treasure, I may be 



BIRMINGHAM. 207 

charged with making a house ! But let me observe, this 
treasure has taken more time in ascertaining, than the 
house in building. 

A reader, fond of figures, will quickly perceive that I 
have selected two hundred and nine people, who take the 
lead among five thousand, by commanding a property of 
£3,500,000. 

Out of the two hundred and nine, one hundred and 
three began the world with nothing but their own prudence. 
Thirty-five more had fortunes added to their prudence, but 
too small to be brought into account; and seventy-one 
persons were favoured with a larger, which, in many in- 
stances is much improved. Hence it follows, that the 
above sum is chiefly acquired by the present inhabitants. 
But we are not to suppose, Birmingham, during this age, 
has increased in wealth to that amount. While these two 
hundred and nine fortunes have been making, twice that 
number of various sizes, have been spent, divided, or carried 
off. But all the two hundred and nine are of modern date, 
not one of them having passed through three descents. 

Many occasions have offered in the course of this work, 
which obliged me to pay a just compliment to the merit of 
the inhabitants, and which I gladly embraced; but no 
occasion surpasses the present. — A fortune justly gained, is 
a credit to the man who gains it ; and is generally con- 
sidered by him who has it, and him who has it not, a pretty 
conveniency. It is a benefit to others. A man cannot 
acquire ten thousand pounds by fair trade, without ten 
thousand persons being gainers by the acquirement. It 
confers a singular honour on the place of his success. 
Pride may afterwards induce him to be ashamed of the 
place, but the place is never ashamed of him. 

These observations corroborate a remark in the beginning 
of the work, that we are well able to fabricate gentlemen, 
but not to keep them. Birmingham, a fertile field, yields 



208 



HISTORY OF 



a copious harvest, which attracts the inhabitants fifty miles 
round it ; some of whom glean a fortune, and retreat with 
the prize. 

In Aris's Birmingham Gazette, Sept. 1, 1828 the following 
statement was presented to the public, with the signature 
of James Luckcock. 



Estimate of the 


supposed Wealth of Birmingham, 


Total population . . . 100,000 


Females 50,000 


Adult Males 25,000 


Persons Property Amount 


1 . 400,000 . 400,000 


2 




300,000 


. 600,000 


3 




200,000 


. 600,000 


4 




150,000 


. 600,000 


5 




100,000 


. 500,000 


6 




80,000 


. 480,000 


10 




50,000 


. 500,000 


20 




30,000 


. 600,000 


30 




20,000 


. 600,000 


50 


- . 


15,000 


. 750,000 


70 




10,000 


. 700,000 


100 




5,000 


. 500,000 


200 




2,000 


. 400,000 


400 




1,000 


. 400,000 


1,000 




500 


. 500,000 


2,000 




250 


. 500,000 


3,000 




100 


. 300,000 


4,000 




50 


. 200,000 


5,000 




25 


. 125,000 


5,000 




15 


. 75,000 


4,092 












Female 


i property 670,000 


25,000 


£10,000,000 



BIRMINGHAM. 209 

After repeated attempts to produce a graduated scale on 
the subject, that should most approve itself to my judg- 
ment, the one here given appeared as near to the reality as 
mere supposition could supply. I felt satisfied that the 
statement came within the bounds of probability, and I 
then (and not before) bethought me of comparing it with 
some statistical tables which I recollected having seen in 
the British Encyclopedia ; and was surprised and gratified 
at the exact coincidence of the two calculations. The 
writers there state the population of England and Scotland 
at 11,000,000 and the probable amount of the total wealth 
to be £1,272,800,000— and this taken for the year 1801. 
An increase of the population since that period is undis- 
puted, and if, for the sake of round numbers, we admit it 
to be 2,000,000, and suppose only £27,200,000 to be added 
to the wealth we have 13,000,000 of persons, and 
£1,300,000,000 for their property, which averages £100 to 
each individual, man, woman, child, or pauper ; and cor- 
roborates my statement on as good authority as the question 
perhaps admits. 

It would thus appear that there are three individuals, in 
or connected with the town who may possess £1,000,000 
of pounds — ten holding £2,000,000 — twenty with 
£3,000,000— fifty with 4,000,000— and an hundred with 
£5,000,000 — and thus shewing- that one hundred and eighty- 
three individuals hold half the property of the whole. 
This amount, however, is not the result of a sweeping 
conjecture, but founded on a list of individuals taken 
separately, which I should have no objection to shew to any 
one who may have the curiosity to request it, but which 
it might not be perfectly discreet to publish. Considering 
then the whole country as a joint stock company, 



2e 



210 



HISTORY OF 



the possessor of 10,000 shares has £1,000,000 
4,000 . . 400,000 

200 . . 20,000 

10 . . . 1,000 

1 . . 100 

while on the other hand a fourth part may be considered as 
having no share at all — a tenth as being ten to a share — a 
twentieth as one share to each, and so on as conjecture 
may ramble. An annual contribution of one per cent on 
the £10,000,000 stated would produce £100,000, which 
would abundantly supply funds for the maintenance of the 
poor, the church levies, the county rates, and in short, the 
whole of the parochial claims, and leave a surplus more than 
all the present numerous charitable institutions require for 
their support. To the man of calculation, or to the patriot 
and philanthropist, innumerable suggestions must present 
themselves on the mind being turned to the subject. 

On comparing this statement with Mr. Hutton's, the 
coincidence will be found closer than might have been 
expected, considering that it was made without any recol- 
lection that such a calculation existed — the chief difference 
consists in allotting to nine persons a higher amount in the 
scale than at the previous period— -and which perhaps will 
be generally admitted to be a reasonable advance. 

Paupers receiving Relief in Birmingham. 



Years. 






Paupers. 


Years. 






Paupers. 


1.807 .... 9,391 


1817 .... 20,847 


1808 . 






9,796 


1818 . 






13,755 


1809 . 






■ 10,389 


1819 . 






14,094 


1810 . 






. 10,571 


1820 . 






14,702 


1811 . 






10,191 


1821 . 






14,742 


1812 . 






10,726 


1822 . 






11,049 


1813 . 






12,241 


1823 . 






10,496 


1814 . 






11,874 


1824 . . 






10,629 


1815 . 






11,274 


1825 . 






10,728 


1816 . 






13,516 


1826 






11,619 



BIRMINGHAM. 211 

Government. 
Have ycu, my dear reader, seen a sword hilt, of curious, 
and of Birmingham manufacture, covered with spangles of 
various sizes, every one of which carries a separate lustre, 
but, when united has a dazzling effect ? Or, have you seen 
a ring, from the same origin, set with diamonds of many 
dimensions, the least of which sparkles with amazing 
beauty, but, when beheld in cluster, surprise the beholder ? 
Or, have you, in a frosty evening, seen the heavens be- 
spangled with refulgent splendour., each stud shining with 
intrinsic excellence, but, viewed in the aggregate, reflect 
honour upon the maker, and enliven the hemisphere ? Such 
is the British government. Such is that excellent system 
of polity, which shines, the envy of the stranger, and the 
protector of the native. 

Every city, town, and village in the English hemisphere, 
has a separate jurisdiction of its own, and may justly be 
deemed a stud in the grand lustre. 

Though the British constitution is as far from perfection, 
as the glory of the ring and the hilt are from that of the 
sun which causes it, or the stars from the day ; yet perhaps 
it stands higher in the scale of excellence, than that of its 
neighbours. We may, with propriety, allow that body to 
shine with splendour, which has been polishing for seven- 
teen hundred years. Much honour is due to the patriotic 
merit which advanced it to its present eminence. 

Though Birmingham is but one sparkle of the brilliant 
cluster, yet she is a sparkle of the first water, and of the 
first magnitude. 

The more perfect any system of government, the happier 
the people. A wise government will punish for the com- 
mission of crimes, but a wiser will endeavour to prevent 
them. Man is an active animal ; if he is not employed in 
some useful pursuit, he will employ himself in mischief: 
example is prevalent. If one man falls into error, he often 



212 HISTORY OF 

draws another. Though heaven, for wise purposes, suffers 
a people to fulfil the measure of their iniquities, a prudent 
state will nip them in the bud. 

It is easy to point out some places, only one-third the 
magnitude of Birmingham, whose frequent breaches of the 
law, and quarrels among themselves, find employment for 
half a dozen magistrates, and four times that number of 
constables ; whilst the business of this was for many years 
conducted by a single justice, the late John Wyrley, Esq. 
If the reader should think that I am mistaken; and 
object, that parish affairs cannot be conducted without a 
second ? Let me reply, He conducted that second also. 

As human nature is nearly the same, whether in or out 
of Birmingham ; and as enormities seem more prevalent 
out than in, we may reasonably ascribe the cause to the 
extraordinary industry of the inhabitants, not allowing 
time to brood over, and bring forth mischief, equal to 
places of inferior diligence. 

There were in 1795 two acting magistrates to hold the 
beam of justice, the Rev. Benjamin Spencer, and Joseph 
Carless, Esq. who both resided at a distance. There are 
now ten who live in or near the town. 

Many of our corporate towns received their charters 
from that amiable, but unfortunate prince, Henry the 
Second. These were the first dawnings of British liberty, 
after fixing the Norman yoke. They were afterwards 
ratified and improved by the subsequent Kings of England, 
granting not only the manors, but many exclusive privi- 
leges. But at this day, those places which were so 
remarkably favoured with the smiles of royalty, are not 
quite so free as those that were not. The prosperity of 
this happy place proves the assertion, of which every man 
is free the moment he enters. 

We often behold a pompous corporation, which sounds 
well in history, over something like a dirty village. This 



BIRMINGHAM. 213 

is a head without a body. The very reverse is our case — 
we are a body without a head. For though Birmingham 
has undergone an amazing alteration in extension, riches, 
and population, yet the government is nearly the same as 
the Saxons left it. This part of my important history 
therefore must suffer an eclipse ; this illustrious chapter, 
that rose in dazzling brightness, must be veiled in the 
thick clouds of obscurity ; I shall figure with my corpora- 
tion in a despicable light. I am not able to bring upon 
the stage a mayor, and a group of aldermen, dressed in 
antique scarlet, bordered with fur, drawing a train of 
attendants ; the meanest of which, even the pinder, is 
badged with silver; nor treat my guest with a band of 
music, in scarlet cloaks with broad laces. I can grace the 
hand of my Birmingham fidler with only a rusty instru- 
ment, and his back with barely a whole coat ; neither have 
I a mace, charged with armorial bearings, for the inaugu- 
ration of the chief magistrate. The reader, therefore, 
must either quit the place, or be satisfied with such enter- 
tainment as that place affords. 

The officers, who are annually chosen to direct in this 
prosperous seat of fortune, are 

An High Bailiff. Two High Tasters. 

Low Bailiff. Two Low Tasters. 

Two Constables. Two Affeirers, and 

Headborough. Two Leather Sealers. 

All which, the constables excepted, are no more than 
servants to the lord of the manor ; and whose duty extends 
no farther, than to the preservation of the manorial rights. 

The high bailiff is to inspect the market, and see that 
justice takes place between buyer and seller ; to rectify the 
weights and dry measures used in the manor. 

The low bailiff summons a jury, who choose all the 
other officers, and generally with prudence. But the most 



214 HISTORY OF 

important part of his office is, to treat his friends at the 
expense of about seventy pounds. 

The headborough is only an assistant to the constables, 
chiefly in time of absence. 

High tasters examine the g-oodness of beer, and its 
measure. 

Low tasters inspect the meat exposed to sale, and cause 
that to be destroyed which is unfit for use. 

Affeirers ratify the chief rent and amercements, between 
the lord and the inhabitant. And the 

Leather sealers, stamped a public seal upon the hides, 
when Birmingham was a market for leather. 

These manorial servants, instituted by ancient charter, 
chiefly possess a name, without an office. Thus order 
seems assisted by industry, and thus a numerous body of 
inhabitants are governed without a governor. 

Exclusive of the choice of officers, the jury impannelled 
by the low bailiff, have the presentation of all encroach- 
ments upon the lord's waste, which has long been neglected. 
The duties of office are little known, except that of taking 
a generous dinner, which is punctually observed. It is too 
early to begin business till the table is well stored with 
bottles, and too late afterwards. 

During the existence of the house of Birmingham, the 
court-leet was held at the Moat, in what we should now 
think a large and shabby room, conducted under the eye of 
the low bailiff, at the expense of the lord. The jury, twice 
a year, were witnesses that the famous dish of roast beef, 
ancient as the family who gave it, demanded the head of 
the table. 

The court was afterwards held at the Leather Hall, and 
the expense, which was trifling, borne by the bailiff. 
Time, prosperity, and emulation, are able to effect con- 
siderable changes. The jury, in the beginning of the 
present century, were impannelled in the Old Cross, then 



BIRMINGHAM. 215 

newly erected, from whence they adjourned to the house of 
the bailiff, and were feasted at the. growing charge of two 
or three 'pounds. This practice continued till about the year 
1 735, when the company, grown too bulky for a private house, 
assembled at the tavern, and the bailiff enjoyed the singular 
privilege of consuming 1 ten pounds upon his guests. 

It is easier to advance in expenses than to retreat. In 
1760, they had increased to forty pounds, and in the next 
edition of this work, we may expect to see the word 
hundred, and hundred must accordingly appear. The lord 
was anciently founder of the feast, and treated his bailiff; but 
now that custom is inverted, and the bailiff treats his lord. 

The proclamation of our two fairs, is performed by the 
high bailiff, in the name of the lord of the manor,- this 
was done a century ago, without the least expense. But 
the strength of his liquor, a silver tankard, and the pride 
of shewing it, perhaps induced him, in process of time, to 
treat his attendants. His ale, without a miracle, was, in a 
few years, converted into wine, and that of various sorts ; 
to which was added, a small collation ; and now his friends 
are complimented with a card, to meet him at the hotel, 
where he incurs an expense of thirty pounds. While the 
spirit of the people refines by intercourse, industry, and 
the singular jurisdiction among us, this insignificant pimple, 
on our head of government, swells into a wen, and has been 
proud enough to invite the prime minister and his man. 

Habits approved are soon acquired : a third entertain- 
ment has, of late years, sprung- up, termed the constables' 
feast, with this difference, it is charged to the public. We 
may consider it a wart on the political body, which merits 
the caustic — the caustic has been applied. 

Deritend, being- a hamlet of Birmingham, sends her 
inhabitants to the court-leet, where they perform suit and 
service, and where her constable is chosen by the same jury. 

I shall here exhibit a defective list of our principal 



216 



HISTORY OF 



officers during the last century. If it should be objected, 
that a petty constable is too insignificant, being the lowest 
officer of the crown, for admission into history ; I answer, 
by whatever appellation an officer is accepted, he cannot 
be insignificant who stands at the head of 70,000 people. 
Perhaps, therefore, the office of constable may be sought 
for in future, and the officer himself assume a superior 
consequence. 

The dates are the years in which they were chosen, fixed 
by charter, within thirty days after Michaelmas. 





Constables. 


1680 


John Simco 


John Cottrill 


1681 


John Wallaxall 


William Guest 


1682 


George Abel 


Samuel White 


1683 


Thomas Russell 


Abraham Spooner 


1684 


Roger Macham 


William Wheely 


1685 


Thomas Cox 


John Green 


1686 


Henry Porter 


Samuel Carless 


1687 


Samuel Banner 


John Jesson 


1690 


Joseph Robinson 


John Birch 


1691 


John Rogers 


Richard Leather 


1692 


Thomas Robins 


Corbet Bushell 


1693 


Joseph Rann 


William Sarjeant 


1694 


Rowland Hall 


John Bryarly 


1695 


Richard Scott 


George Wells 


1696 


Joseph Haddock 


Robert Mansell 


1697 


James Greir 


John Foster 


1698 


John Baker 


Henry Camden 


1699 


William Kettle 


Thomas Gisborn 


1700 


John Wilson 


Joseph Allen 


1701 


Nicholas Bakewell 


Richard Banner 


1702 


William Collins 


Robert Groves 


1703 


Henry Parrott 


Benjamin Carless 


1704 


William Brierly 


John Hunt 





BIRM 


INGHAM. 


1705 


Jonathan Seeley 


Thomas Hollowaj 


1706 


Robert Moore 


John Savage 


1707 


Isaac Spooner 


Samuel Hervey 


1708 


Richard Weston 


Thomas Cope 


1709 


Samuel Walford 


Thomas Green 


1710 


John Foxall 


William Norton 


1711 


Stephen Newton 


John Taylor 


1712 


William Russell 


John Cotterell 


1713 


John Shaw 


Thomas Hallford 


1714 


Randall Bradburn 


Joseph May 


1715 


Stephen Newton 


Samuel Russell 


1716 


Stephen Newton 


Joseph Carles s 


1717 


Abraham Foxall 


William Spilsbury 


1718 


John Gisborn 


Henry Carver 


1719 


Samuel Hays 


Joseph Smith 


1720 


John Barnsley 


John Humphrys 


1721 


William Bennett 


Thomas Wilson 


1722 


John Harrison 


Simon Harris 



217 



21N 



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BIRMINGHAM. 219 



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222 HISTORY OF 

Five of the inhabitants have, since I knew the place, 
served the office of Sheriff for the County, viz. 

John Taylor, Esq. - 1756 

Edward Jorden, Esq. - 1757 

Isaac Spooner Esq. - 1763 

John Taylor, Esq. - 1786 

Henry Clay, Esq. . - - 1790 



Court of Requests. 

Law is the very basis of civil society, without it man 
would quickly return to his original rudeness ; the result 
would be robbery and blood ; — and even laws themselves 
are of little moment, without a due execution of them — 
there is a necessity to annex punishment. 

All wise legislators have endeavoured to proportion the 
punishment to the crime, but never to exceed it. A well 
conducted state holds forth a scale of punishments for 
transgressions of every dimension, beginning with the 
simple reprimand, and proceeding downwards even to 
death itself. 

Much honour is due to that judicial luminary, William 
Murray, Earl of Mansfield, who presided over the King's 
Bench, for introducing equity into the courts of law, where 
she had long been a stranger. 

From a consideration of the prodigious intercourse sub- 
sisting in so vast a body of people as those of Birmingham, 
it was wisely judged necessary] to establish an easy and 
expeditious method of ending dispute, and securing pro- 
perty. The inhabitants, therefore, in 1752, procured an 
act for the recovery of debts under forty shillings ; consti- 
tuting seventy-two commissioners, three to be a quorum. 
They sat for the dispatch of business in the chamber over 
the Old Cross, till it was destroyed, every Friday morning. 



BIRMINGHAM. 223 

There usually appears before them one hundred and sixty 
causes : their determinations are final. Two clerks, con- 
stituted by the act, attend the court to give judicial assist- 
ance ; are always of the law, chosen alternately by the lord 
of the manor and the commissioners, and continue for life. 
Once in every two years, ten of the commissioners are 
balloted out, and ten others of the inhabitants chosen in 
their stead. 

Lamp Act. 

Order is preserved by attention. In 1769 an act was 
obtained, and in 1773 and 1801 amendments of the act, 
for lighting- and cleaning- the streets of Birmingham, and 
for removing obstructions that were prejudicial to the 
health or convenience of the inhabitants. 

In 1812 these three acts were repealed, and their provi- 
sions consolidated in a new act, which gave powers to the 
commissioners to purchase the Moat and Moat-house ; to 
erect a market for beasts, pigs, horses, hay, and straw ; 
reserving- to the lord of the manor, the power to hold a 
market for horses, the Thursday of each of the fairs, in the 
street called the Horse Fair. 

These acts were committed to the care of about seventy- 
six irresolute commissioners, with farther powers of pre- 
venting- encroachments upon public ground ; for it was 
justly observed, that robbery was a work of darkness, 
therefore to introduce light would, in some measure, pro- 
tect property. That in a town like Birmingham, full of 
commerce and inhabitants, where necessity leads to con- 
tinual action ; no part of the twenty-four hours ought to be 
dark. That, to avoid darkness, is sometimes to avoid 
insult ; and that by the light of seven hundred lamps, many 
unfortunate accidents would be prevented. It was also 
observed, that in a course of time, the buildings in some of 



224 HISTORY OP 

the ancient streets had encroached upon the path four or 
five feet on each side ; which caused an irregular line, and 
made those streets eight or ten feet narrower, that are now 
used by seventy thousand people, than they were when used 
only by a tenth part of that number ; and, that their con- 
fined width rendered the passage dangerous to children, 
women, and feeble age, particularly on the market day and 
Saturday evening. That if former encroachments could not 
be recovered, future ought to be prevented : And that neces- 
sity pleads for a wider street now than heretofore, not only 
because the inhabitants being more numerous, require 
more room, but the buildings being more elevated, obstruct 
the light, the sun, and the air, which obstructions tend to 
sickness and inconveniency. 

Narrow streets with modern buildings, are generally 
dirty, for want of these natural helps ; as Digbeth, St. 
Martin's Lane, Swan Alley, Carr's Lane, &c. The narrower 
the street, the less it can be influenced by the sun and the 
wind, consequently the more the dirt will abound ; and 
by experimental observations upon stagnate water in 
the street, it is found extremely prejudicial to health. 
And also, the larger the number of people, the more the 
necessity to watch over their interest with a guardian's 
eye. 

It may farther be remarked, that an act of parliament 
ought to distribute justice with an impartial hand, in which 
case, content and obedience may reasonably be expected. 
But the acts before us carry a manifest partiality, one man 
claims a right to an encroachment into the street of three 
or four feet, whilst another is proscribed to twelve inches. 

This inactive body of seventy-six, who wisely argue 
asrainst the annihilation of one evil, because another will 
remain, had powers to borrow a thousand pounds, to 
purchase and remove some obstructive buildings, and to 
defray the expense by a rate on the inhabitants, which 



BIRMINGHAM. 225 

after deducting about one hundred and twenty pounds 
per annum for deficiencies, amounted in 

1774, to £ 912 

1775, . - _ . _ 902 

1776, — 947 

1777, ----- 965 

1778, - - — - - 1,012 

1779, -. — -.. 1,022 

1780, ----- 1,021 

1785, ----- 1,256 

1786, ----- 1,253 

1787, - — 1,265 

1788, ----- 1,276 

1789, — 1,315 

1790, — 1,301 

Though the town was averse to the measure, as an 
innovation, they quickly saw its utility, and seemed to 
wish a more vigorous exertion of the commissioners ; but 
numbers sometimes procrastinate intentions. If it is 
difficult to find five men of one mind, it is more difficult 
to find a superior number. That business which would 
run currently through the hands of five, stagnates at 
fifteen, the number required. 

It is curious to observe a body of commissioners, every 
one of whom conducts his own private affairs with pro- 
priety and success, attack a question by the hour, which 
is as plain as the simplest proposition in the mathematics, 
when not being able to reduce it, and their ammunition 
spent, leave the matter undetermined, and retreat in 
silence. In works of manual operation a large number 
may be necessary, but in works of direction a small one 
facilitates dispatch. 

Birmingham, a capacious field, by long neglect is over- 
grown with encroaching weeds. The gentle commissioners, 

2 G 



226 HISTORY OF 

appointed to reduce them, behold it an arduous work, are 
divided in opinion, and some withdraw the hand from the 
plough. The manorial powers, which alone could preserve 
order, have slept for ages. Regularity has been long 
extinct. The desire of trespass is so prevalent, that I 
have been tempted to question, if it were not for the 
powers of the Lamp Act, feeble as they are, whether the 
many-headed-public, ever watchful of prey, would not, in 
another century, devour whole streets, and totally prevent 
the passenger. Thus a supine jurisdiction abounds with 
street-robbers. 

If the sleepy powers of the lord made any efforts, those 
efforts operated to the injury of the streets, by taking 
encroachments into pay. If simple mischief is prejudicial, 
what then must be that mischief which is countenanced 
by power ! — We learn from modern records, that 

Charles Soul held a passage from the street to a 

vault, at .-__-_ 

Andrew Adams, a flight of steps - 
William Butler, for a vault and a shed 
Richard Lutwych, a vault and sashes - 
Richard Wakefield, steps and sashes - 
Isaac Baker, for leave to lay down coals 
Thomas Everett, a passage to a vault - 

These tresspasses, with many others, were presented to 
the lord by his own jury ; but the encroacher checked 
their proceedings by a silver bar, and continued possession. 

There are cases where the line of the street should 
inviolably be preserved, as in a common range of houses ; 
therefore all projections above a given dimension infringe 
this rule. There are other cases where taste would direct 
this line to be broken, as in buildings of singular size or 
construction, which should be viewed in recess. Those of 
a public nature generally come under this description.. 



per 


annum. 
s. d. 


a 






- 


5 





- 


2 


6 


- 


7 


6 


- 


7 


6 


- 


7 


6 


- 


7 


6 


_ 


5 






BIRMINGHAM. 227 

as the Free School and the Hotels which ought to have 
fallen two or three yards back. What pity, that so noble 
an edifice as the Theatre in New Street, should lose any 
of its beauty, by the prominence of its situation ? 

As Birmingham abounds with new streets, that were 
once private property, it is a question often discussed, in 
what point of time the land appropriated for such streets, 
ceases to be private ? But as this question was never 
determined, and as it naturally rises before me, and is of 
importance, suffer me to examine it. When building 
leases are granted, if the road be narrow, as was lately 
the case at the west end of New Street, the proprietor 
engages to give a certain portion of land to widen it. 
From that moment it falls to the lot of the public, and is 
under the control of the commissioners, as guardians of 
public property. I allow, if within memory, the granter 
and the lessees should agree to cancel the leases, which 
is just as likely to happen as the powers of attraction to 
cease, and the moon to descend from the heavens, the 
land reverts again to its original proprietor. 

Though the streets of Birmingham have for many ages 
been exposed to the hand of the encroacher, yet, by 
a little care, and less expense, they might in about one 
century be reduced to a considerable degree of use and 
beauty. In what light then shall we be viewed by the future 
eye, if we neglect the interest of posterity ? 

Humane Society. 
The benevolent spirit of the inhabitants, established in 
1790, the Humane Society, for the recovery of drowned 
persons. 

Commercial Committee. 
A Commercial Committee, consisting of the first cha- 
racters, was also instituted to watch over the common 
interests of the place. 



228 HISTORY OF 

Hay Market. 

In 1791, a market was opened every Tuesday, to supply 
the town with hay, &c. 

Public Library. 

The benefit of letters is ascertained by comparing the 
practice of the fifteenth century with the present. Then, 
even the man of reflection, for want of this valuable 
resource, might think himself into a dose, by his fire-side, 
and slumber away half his night's rest before bed-time. 
No magazines for mental subsistence, were preserved in 
that barren period. His mind, starved and unemployed, 
sunk into inaction ; instead of knowing what appertained 
to others, he did not know himself; the past and the 
future were hid from his eyes, and his utmost stretch of 
acquirement comprehended only a small part of his day, 
aided by a narrow tradition. The result was darkness, 
slavery, ignorance, prejudice, poverty of substance and 
of thought, bigotry, and superstition. Neither could he 
draw intelligence from others, for their literary fountains 
were as dry as his own ; his manners were as savage as 
his judgment was erroneous. But the man of the present 
century becomes heir to immense treasures. The genera- 
tions which are past, as well as that present, have stored 
up more amusement than he can grasp. The collection 
of ages lie open to view ; he beholds things which are past 
as if they were present ; lights up his dark mind at the 
constellation of luminaries. Before him expands a capa- 
cious garden, rich in culture, where he can gather what 
flowers he pleases. Here he tastes the tree of knowledge 
without danger. Solitude no longer disgusts, for should 
he lose his company, he cannot lose himself. He com- 
mands the living and the dead ; what they acquired he 
possesses. So far from dozing away the day, he can 



BIRMINGHAM 229 

scarcely spare night for sleep. The results of the press are 
juster ideas, a refinement of taste and of judgment, advances 
in civilization, the introduction ofwealth, light, and freedom. 
Anciently, the man who understood the alphabet, was 
a conjurer, but now he may understand something more, 
and be reputed a blockhead. 

The Public Library of Birmingham, commenced in 1779, 
and, like many important things, from exceedingly minute 
beginnings. Each member paid a guinea entrance, and six 
shillings per annum. Their number was so small, that 
they could scarcely have quarrelled had they been inclined, 
and their whole stock might have been hid in a handker- 
chief. The society received, from the benevolent hand of 
Dr. Priestley, in 1782, that stability and method, without 
which no institution can prosper. In 1781, the subscrip- 
tion was raised to eight shillings. — A librarian then 
entered the service at £10 per annum. In 1786, admission 
was advanced to £1 lis. 6d. and an order made, that 
when the subscribers amounted to three hundred, it should 
be two guineas ; and when four hundred, three guineas, 
which is the present case. Twenty-five pounds per annum 
is paid for a room, and thirty guineas to a Librarian for 
superintending a stock of four thousand volumes. 

The medical gentlemen, in 1790, formed themselves into 
a Book Society, for purchasing the publications of their 
science. Book Societies are now very common and Circu- 
lating Libraries very numerous. 

Public Education. 

Amongst the numerous and important events which 
crowded upon the close of the eighteenth century, there 
was not one perhaps of more consequence, as it regards the 
future well being of the human race, than the establishment 
of Sunday Schools. Whether we consider the simplicity 
of the plan, the rapidity of its operation, or its extraordi- 



230 



HISTORY OK 



nary results, it is cheering to the heart of philanthropy to 
feel how well it merits this unqualified praise. — Before that 
period, education was more a matter of speculation than of 
practice; individual improvement was promoted by the 
parties interested, but what advances had been made 
towards enlightening the public mind ? Experience had 
lamentably proved how inadequate were the public schools 
to produce any sensible effect, whether founded by royal 
donations or individual munificence ; and our late parlia- 
mentary reports attest, alas ! but too plainly, that venality 
and corruption had monopolized the resources which 
benevolence or ostentation had intended for a different use. 
Nor can any reasonable palliation be urged in favour of 
that class of the community whose office and emoluments 
had such powerful claims upon them, to devote their time 
and their influence in endeavouring to improve the morals 
of the great bulk of society by instruction. It was noto- 
riously the dread of a large proportion of them, as was 
fully evinced by their zealous opposition to the attempt 
that was now made to start the subject on a national scale. 
Such were the facts when Robert Raikes, of Gloucester, 
first conceived the idea, and reduced it to practice, of a plan 
which recommending" itself to the public patronage by its 
simplicity, its economy, and its universality, should have 
no limits but the want of more subjects on whom to confer 
the benefit. The year 1781, was the memorable epoch of 
this god- like suggestion; and the success with which the first 
efforts were crowned, soon induced its adoption in various 
parts of the kingdom; and Birmingham has the honour 
not only of being one of the first, but also unquestionably 
the most persevering and successful, in this competition of 
zeal and benevolence. Tn 1787, the dissenters, who hitherto 
had made common cause in the undertaking, requested 
permission to take the pupils of their own recommending, 
to their own respective places of worship, holding them- 



BIRMINGHAM. 231 

selves responsible for their punctual attendance. This 
reasonable indulgence was however denied them by the 
general committee, (with the casting vote of the Rev. 
Chairman,) and the consequence was the immediate seces- 
sion of the whole party, and their establishment on their 
own foundation. The Old and New Meeting- Societies thus 
commenced their school, in 1787, on the same footing as 
had generally been adopted, — that of such a number of 
children as could be accommodated in the dwelling of a 
salaried teacher, with the appointment of monthly visitors in 
rotation, as superintendants and reporters to the committee. 
The majestic river has its origin in the bubbling rivulet, 
and the venerable and towering oak in the diminutive 
acorn '; — so in this case — it was one of the first resolutions 
of the Old Meeting Committee, (though somewhat border- 
ing on the ludicrous) " That the number of children be 
limited to twenty." The children were to be taught to 
read and to repeat their catechism, and then to be dis- 
missed, with the present of a Bible, to make room for new 
comers. A few of the visitors soon, however, began to 
feel the imperfection of the plan, and instead of these dis- 
missals, they used their influence in procuring larger 
premises, and thus improved their feelings in the cause, by 
increasing their attachment to the children, and their 
responsibility to the managers. After a while, the question 
was started, — why dismiss the children at all ? and why 
not extend the advantages of the institution, so as to watch 
over the formation and growth of their character, as they 
advance to meet the trials and temptations of youthful 
exposure ? Following up these suggestions, some of the 
visitors in connexion with both establishments, decided, in 
1789, upon opening a new undertaking, under the denomi- 
nation of the " Sunday Society," whose objects should be 
to embody those youths who had been honourably dis- 
missed from other schools, and to carry on the instructions 



232 HISTORY OF 

in the plain and elementary principles of useful science. 
The public may not deem these worthies undeserving of 
this lasting record, and the names of James Luckcock, 
Thomas Wright Hill, Thomas Clark, Thomas Halliday, 
Philip and Thomas Carpenter, and Michael Beasely, will 
be valued as belonging to the principals in their patriotic 
designs. To defray their expenses, they commenced a 
Public Weekly Debating Society, in the large room which 
they occupied on Sundays as their school. The subjects 
for debate, were generally such has had some bearing upon 
the main question of public improvement ; and they charged 
an admission fee of sixpence. Their successful efforts and 
flattering prospects were, however, suspended and apparently 
overwhelmed by the disgraceful riots of 1791. Fanaticism 
would admit of no compromise, and its temporary triumph 
was complete. The dissenters felt the necessity of yielding 
to the howling tempest, but as the alarm subsided, they 
became more than ever convinced of the importance of 
the task they had undertaken, and once more setting their 
hands to the plough, are now reaping- a rich and abundant 
harvest, as their gratifying reward. The same association 
of managers, had so far improved and enlarged their plans, 
as to embody themselves with their newly-appointed assist- 
ants, into a society, in 1796, under the title of the u - Old 
and New Meeting Brotherly Society," whose objects were 
to rear a succession of voluntary and gratuitous teachers 
from their own pupils ; thus attempting to organize a new, 
intellectual, and moral society, and establish the whole 
upon a respectable and self-perpetuating foundation. The 
following is one of the rules they adopted, and it will not 
only explain their motives, but evince the near resemblance 
the institution held to that of the present Mechanics' Insti- 
tutions ; or still more, may be considered as the first public 
suggestion of that important measure. — " The subjects for 
improvement shall be reading, writing, arithmetic, drawing, 



BIRMINGHAM. 



233 



geography, natural and civil history, and morals; or, in 
short, whatever may be generally useful to a manufacturer, 
or as furnishing principles for active benevolence and in- 
tegrity. And every member on enrolling- his name, was 
required to sign the following declaration. — " Such being 
the leading motives for our association, we pledge ourselves 
to each other to endeavour ie6 carry them into effect, and to 
make ourselves as useful as we can. We engage to behave 
with civility and respect to each other, to consider each 
other as desirable companions, and as brothers ; to go hand 
in hand in our improvements and amusements, and to 
study each other's welfare and happiness. We will avoid 
all levity, or trifling, unmanly, behaviour ; all finery and 
foppishness in our dress ; all bad company and gaming. 
We will consider industry in our callings as an indispen- 
sible duty, and obedience to parents and masters as not less 
necessary and binding. We will love and cultivate 
honesty and truth, and will be careful that our general 
conduct shall correspond with our professions, so as to gain 
the confidence of our friends, and merit the esteem of all 
who know us. With these sincere and good intentions, 
we subscribe our names to the following rules." 

In the year 1798, a most valuable addition was made to 
the regulations of the institution, by the adoption of a 
sick club, at first, intended for the children only, belonging" 
to the school, but afterwards, extended to the teachers. 
The success of this has been unprecedented and surprising, 
as the following statement will amply testify : — 



£. s. xl. 



Subscriptions from the 
commencement, to 
the close of the year 
1833 - -' 1754 

Interest on Capital. - 607 



10| 
3 11 



.£•2360 4 9^ 



£. 

876 

119 



Sick Payments 

Contingencies 

Balance Fund realised 1366 1 

.£2361 4 



:. d. 

2 10 
2 



234 



HISTORY OF 



Much of this success is owing to the whole management 
being gratuitous, and no payment for the use of any room 
or office, the collections and distributions being- regulated 
entirely by the teachers themselves, and without any 
pecuniary reward. The number of subscribers may have 
averaged from two hundred to two hundred and fifty, and 
the last year was in the following proportions : — 



Subscriptions per Week. 


No. of Subscribers. 


Rate of Payments 

for Illness, per 

Week. 


Halfpenny - 
One Penny 
Three-halfpence - 
Twopence - 
Threepence 
Fourpence - 
Honorary - 

Total - 


87 

120 

13 

12 

7 

48 

6 

293 


s. d. 

2 
4 

6 

9 

12 



On the decease of any member under twenty-one years 
of age, an allowance is made from the fund, for his funeral, 
after the rate of four weekly payments for illness ; and for 
a senior member, two pounds, whatever his receipts may 
have been ; but every senior member, in such case, must 
contribute one shilling, to the fund. As a statistical fact 
it deserves record, that in the first thirty-two years, there 
were only twenty-seven deaths, in 1808, 1809, and 1810, 
none, in 1818, 1819, and 1820, none, and in 1826, to 1830, 
inclusive, only two. 

This detail is by no means intended to undervalue the 
merits of the other dissenting- societies in the town, but to 
place on record the well deserved claim to originality of these 
united societies in the scheme of perpetuating the schools 
from their own supply, and connecting the sick club with 



BIRMINGHAM, 235 

the institution. The Wesley an Methodists, the Baptists, 
and the Independents are entitled to their full share of 
national and universal praise for their ardent and successful 
exertions in this new field of mental cultivation. The 
acknowledged superiority, and efficiency of the plan which 
soon began to engage the public attention, induced the 
appointment of many deputations to gain information as to 
the modes adopted — and these applications were always 
met with attention and courtesy, and with the true spirit of 
liberal feeling which the good cause required. It would 
seem that the Society of Friends have hardly borne a pro- 
portionate share in the great work of public instruction — 
it must however be conceded that they took the lead in 
establishing and patronizing the Lancasterian Institution ; 
and the Infant Schools are perhaps more indebted to them 
as a body, than to any other denomination. It would be 
superfluous on this occasion to enter minutely into the detail 
of the arrangements adopted in the respective schools, either 
as to the matter or manner of instruction, or as to their 
comparative expenses. Many of them, however, have very 
ample and commodious buildings erected for the purpose, 
at an expense from £500 to £1000 — some entirely from 
donations, and others in part from the funds of the trustees 
connected with their places of worship. One or two in- 
stances may serve to exemplify the general system, and 
probable conclusions may suffice for the rest. The New 
Meeting Schools (1810) cost, including the purchase of the 
land, £1425 — the donations, chiefly from the society, 
amounted to £623 — and subsequent subscriptions, together 
with the produce from the annual services, and the income 
arising from weekly tenants, have since then entirely sup- 
ported the schools, and liquidated the whole of the loans they 
have contracted. The Old Meeting Schoolswere erected 1820, 
on an estimate of £1000, on land belonging to the trustees 
— the materials from old building were taken at £250 and 



236 HISTORY OF 

the congregation raised a voluntary subscription of £200. 
The average annual expense of each pupil in the Old and 
New Meeting Schools, including some payments to female 
teachers, rewards, fuel, &c. may be taken at 2s. 2d. per 
head — and as the system of gratuitous instruction is now 
pretty general among dissenters, and the Wesleyans in 
particular being close managers in point of economy, it 
may be considered as a fair presumption that the same 
estimate will approximate sufficiently near to serve as an 
average supposition for the whole — There is no need how- 
ever, to underrate it to make out a plausible case — if we 
say 2s. 6d. instead of 2s. 2d. per head, on the total number, 
14,000 it will amount to £1,750 — and if for a round sum 
we take it at £2,000 it will make but about 2s. per house 
throughout the town, or not one halfpenny per week. — This 
must be understood for instruction solely, several of the 
institutions in the list providing subsistence in addition — 
Such is the amazing power of well-directed combination ! 

From a calculation made in one of the most numerous 
schools, the average number of absentees may be taken at 
one seventh, and the change of the pupils takes place 
totally in about three years and a half, so that making 
allowance for the fickle and restless subjects who are con- 
stantly shifting, the steady ones maybe supposed to remain 
about four years and a half. And this seems to be cor- 
roborated by the universal change in the population ; as it 
embraces a period of childhood, till about the age of four- 
teen, or what may be called the age for school. And thus 
rolls on the rapid and incessant tide of human existence — 
Taking the population of the town 100,000 — at five persons 
to a house will make twenty thousand houses — and of these 
five persons one in each family may be supposed at the 
school age, from seven to fourteen. This cannot be very 
wide of the mark, and it would thus appear that there are 
fourteen thousand instructed in the public institutions 



BIRMINGHAM. 



237 



towards the total of twenty thousand — and of the remaining 
six thousand, we may fairly reckon four thousand for those 
who belonging to a higher class, have their education paid 
for by their parents, and there will then remain two thousand 
the victims of ignorance and neglect. This considered in 
itself is a serious number, but in comparison with the total 
is consolatory, being but a tenth part of the whole ; and 
even a considerable portion of these may fall in the way 
occasionally for some little help in the cultivation of their un- 
tutored minds. And how gratifying to the benevolent heart 
to reflect and to feel with confidence, that during the last 
twenty -five years no individual whatever can say with truth — 
" I have sought instruction and could not obtain it" — On 
the memorable occasion of the half century of Sunday School 
establishment, and on the birthday of Raikes, September 
14,1831 — all religious denominations of the town gladly con- 
curred in the measure proposed of making it a day of jubilee 
and of public happiness. — The pupils were all assembled 
and paraded to their respective places of worship, where 
preparations had been made for the purpose ; and after 
joining their voices in praise to God and gratitude to their 
benefactors, were most of them treated with suitable re- 
freshment, and sent home highly delighted — What a proud 
day was this for humanity ! — Minds illuminated instead of 
windows — the anthem of praise in our various chapels in- 
stead of the yells of the deluded multitude rejoicing in human 
slaughter — and the hearts of old and young, rich and poor, 
benefactors and recipients, all softened to every generous im- 
pulse that musteventually increasethe sum of human felicity. 

In accordance with the spirit of the day, the Brotherly 
Society presented to Mr. James Luckcock a medal of fine 
gold, and weighing from two to three ounces, containing an 
excellent likeness of himself, by Halliday, with the inscrip- 
tions : 

" James Luckcock, born October 24, 1761, Father of 
Sunday School instruction in Birmingham." 



238 



HISTORY OF 



And on the reverse side — 

" To the author of " Moral Culture"— this medal is pre- 
sented by his friends and admirers, as a record of their 
esteem for his successful exertions in the Old and New 
Meeting Sunday Schools, from their commencement to the 
present time. 

Year of Jubilee, 1831 — Sunday Schools' first jubilee 
celebrated September 14, 1831 — being the anniversary of 
Raikes's birthday, the founder of them." 

Another reverse die was prepared, with the following in- 
scriptions : 

" Sunday School Jubilee, Sept. 14, 1831. 
Old and New Meeting Sunday Schools established 1787. 
One thousand three hundred and sixty -four pupils in the 
schools. 

One hundred and fifty gratuitous teachers. 
Fourteen thousand, five hundred pupils in the town." 
And with this alteration, medals were struck in white 
metal, and presented in handsome morocco cases to all the 
members, in perpetual acknowledgment that without their 
zealous and unremitted co-operation, the plans so well 
matured could never have been realized. 

With these broad and demonstrated facts, it may be 
easily assumed that no town in the kingdom, perhaps not 
in the world, possesses more advantages for the attainment 
of moral and intellectual improvement. For the honour 
then, of public education, may Birmingham continue its 
progress in that honourable path which it appears to have 
chosen for the accomplishment of its destinies. May in- 
creasing- good conduct attend upon, and prove the sound- 
ness of the principles which have been inculcated through 
all the ramifications of the different schools ; and may 
union, diligence, temperance, frugality, subordination, do- 
mestic habits, and public virtue, be so eminently con- 
spicuous, as not merely to prove that good order and uni- 
versal education are compatible, but that they must be ne- 



BIRMINGHAM. 



239 



cessarily united, as the only solid foundation on which to 
erect the fabric of universal happiness. 

Statement of Public Education, 

(From an Actual Census, December, 1827.) 







Boys. 


Girls. 


Total. 


Blue Coat School 


- 


- 148 


46 


194 


Infant ditto, Ann Street 


80 


70 


150 


Ditto Islingt( 


m 


55 


50 


105 


Asylum, (from the parish-rates) - 130 


135 


265 


National Schools 


- 


. - 272 


170 


442 


Schools of Industry 


- 


— 


154 


154 


St. Philip's 


- 


- 100 


100 




St. George's 


- 


- 140 


80 




St. Mary's 


- 


- 160 


190 




St. Martin's 


- 


- 112 


123 




St. Paul's 


- 


80 


20 




Christ Church 


- 


- J50 


187 




St. Bartholomew's "^ 










St. James - f 


Schools merging- 






St. John's - i 


in the Total. 






Trinity Church - J 




— 


— 


2130 


Park Street School 


- 


— 


48 


48 


New Meeting ditto 


- 


- 540 


200 


740 


Old Meeting ditto 


- 


- 441 


109 


550 


Cannon Street Schools 
Carr's Lane ditto 


; 


Baptist 






Ebenezer ditto 


- 


and 






Fisher Street ditto 
Livery Street ditto 


- 


Independent 




6000 


Bond Street ditto 


- 


/Sunday School 




New Hall Street ditto 


- 








King Street ditto 


- 


Union. 






Lombard Street ditto 


- 








Oxford Street ditto 


-■ 


2408 1682 





Carried Forwa 


rd 




10,778 



240 HISTORY OF 



I Wesley an Old Schools 1600 



Boys. Girls. Total. 

Brought Forward 2408 1682 10,778 
Cherry Street, 
Belmont Row 

Wesley an New Schools - - 491 310 801 

Bradford Street ditto - - 160 200 360 

Mount Zion ditto - - 30 20 50 

Islington ditto - - — — 100 

Thorpe Street ditto - — — 80 

Inge Street ditto - - — — 80 

Roman Catholic ditto - - — — 250 



Total • - - 3089 2212 14,099 



Religion and Politics. 

Although these two threads^ like the warp and the woof, 
are very distinct things, yet, like them, they are usually 
woven together. Each possesses a strength of its own, 
but when united, become extremely powerful, as in the 
case of Henry the III., and the clergy. This union sub- 
sisted from a very early date. 

Power is the idol of man ; we not only wish to acquire 
it, but also to increase and preserve it. If the magistrate 
has been too weak to execute his designs, he has backed 
his schemes with the aid of the church. This occurred 
with King Stephen and the bishops. 

Likewise, if a churchman finds his power ascendant 
in the human mind, he still wishes an addition to that 
power, by uniting another. Thus the bishop of Rome, 
being master of the spiritual chair, stepped also into the 
temporal. 

Sometimes the ecclesiastical and civil governors appear 
in the malign aspect, or in modern phrase, like a quarrel 
between the squire and the rector, which is seldom detri- 



BIRMINGHAM. 241 

mental to the people. This was the case with Henry the 
VIII. and the church. 

Birmingham, in those remote periods, does not seem to 
have attended so much to religious and political dispute, 
as the coarse music of her hammer. Peace seems to have 
been her characteristic — she paid obedience to that prince 
who had good fortune to possess the throne, and regularly- 
paid divine honours in St. Martin's, because there was no 
other church. Thus, through the long ages of Saxon, 
Danish, and Norman Government, we hear of no noise 
but that of the anvil, till the reign of Henry the III., when 
her lord joined the barons against the crown, and drew 
after him some of his mechanics, to exercise the very arms 
they had been taught to make ; at the battle of Evesham, 
he staked his life and his fortune, and lost both. 

Things quickly returning into their former channel, 
she stood a silent spectator during that dreadful contest 
between the two roses, pursuing the tenor of still life till 
the civil wars of Charles the I.., when she took part with 
the parliament ; some of whose troops were stationed here, 
particularly at the garrison and Camphill; the names of 
both originating in that circumstance. ( See page 37. J 

In 1660, she joined the wish of the kingdom in the 
restoration of the Stuart family. About this time, many 
of the curious manufacturers began to blossom in this 
prosperous garden of the arts. 

In 1688, when the nation chose to expel a race of kings, 
though replete with good nature, because they had forgot 
the limits of justice ; our peaceable sons of art wisely con- 
sidering that oppression and commerce, like oil and water, 
could never unite, smiled, with the rest of the kingdom, at 
the landing of the Prince of Orange, and exerted their 
little assistance towards effecting the revolution, notwith- 
standing the lessons of divine right had been taught near 
ninety years. 

2 i 



242 HISTORY OF. 

In the reign of Queen Anne, when that flaming lumi- 
nary, Dr. Sacheveral, set half the kingdom in a blaze, the 
inhabitants of this region of industry caught the spark of 
the day and grew warm for the church. They had always 
been inured to fire, but now we behold them between two. 
As the doctor rode in triumph through the streets of Bir- 
mingham (1709), this flimsy idol of party snuffed up the 
incense of the populace, but the more sensible withheld 
their homage ; and when he preached at Sutton Coldfield, 
where he had family connexions, the people of Birming- 
ham crowded in multitudes round his pulpit. But it does 
not appear that he taught his hearers to build up Zion, but 
perhaps to pull her down ; for they immediately went and 
gutted a meeting-house. 

In 1715, so great was the fury of the uneducated popu 
lace of this town, that several meeting-houses were either 
totally destroyed or much injured. July, 1791, these same 
lovers of the church, and loyal subjects of his majesty, 
committed much greater excesses against their peaceable 
brethren, the dissenters. Public prosecution, and private 
persecution were aided by the firebrand of a lawless mob, 
to prevent the spread of civil- and religious liberty. But 
the improvement of the people by education, since 1791, 
and the consequent increase of liberal sentiments, has 
caused a reaction. The people now think and act in 
concert for their general good ; and the dissenters, with 
unceasing assiduity and calm determination, with no 
weapon but reason and the justice of their cause, com- 
pletely triumphed in 1832. ( See page 86. J Notwithstand- 
ing the signal defeat at this period, in November, J 834, 
notice was again given that a meeting would be held in 
the Town-Hall, to grant a rate of fourpence in the pound. 
One of the largest and most respectable meetings, upon 
this subject, was consequently held, December 5th, 1834, 
more than eight thousand persons being present. Both 




is ■ : u 

BrR.MI3sTG-'HA-M; 
h i fey .7awu » 

1335 



BIRMINGHAM. 243 

parties had come prepared to defend themselves and their 
cause to the utmost. The show of hands being greatly 
against the rate, a poll was demanded, which was carried 
on with great spirit for seven days. The excitement 
during this time was as great as any contested election. 
The poll finally closed, December 13th, 1834, when the 
numbers were for the rate one thousand seven hundred 
and twenty-three, against it, six thousand six hundred 
and ninety-nine. This, it is hoped, will be sufficient to 
set the matter at rest for ever. 

Easter dues, which used to be paid with cheerfulness, 
have not, for many years, paid the expenses of collection ; 
and the rector has shewn his good sense by suffering his 
claim to slumber in obscurity. 

Places of Worship. 

In a town like Birmingham, unfettered with chartered 
laws, which gives access to the stranger of every denomi- 
nation, for he here finds a freedom by birth-right ; and 
where the principles of toleration are well understood, 
it is no wonder we find various modes of worship. There 
are forty-five places of worship in Birmingham, thirteen 
belonging to the Established Church, and thirty-two to 
the various sects of Protestant Dissenters and others. 

Saint Martin's. 

It has been remarked, that the antiquity of this church 
is too remote for historical light. The curious records of 
those dark ages, not being multiplied and preserved by 
the art of printing, have fallen a prey to time and the 
revolution of things. There is reason for fixing the 
foundation in the eighth century, perhaps rather sooner, 
and it then was at a small distance from the buildings. 
The town stood upon the hill, whose centre was the Old 
Cross. 



244 HISTORY OF 

I am inclined to think that the precincts of St. Martin's 
have undergone a mutilation, and that the place which has 
obtained the modern name of Bull Ring, and which is 
used as a market for corn and herbs, was once an appro- 
priation of the church, though not used for interment ; 
because the church is evidently calculated for a town of 
some size, to which the present church-yard no way 
agrees, being- so extremely small that the ancient dead 
must have been continually disturbed, to make way for 
the modern, that little spot being their only receptacle for 
nine hundred years. A son not only succeeded his father 
in the possession of his property and habitation, but also 
in the grave, where he could scarcely enter without 
expelling half a dozen of his ancestors. 

The antiquity of St. Martin's will appear by surveying 
the adjacent ground. From the eminence upon which the 
High Street stands, proceeds a steep and regular descent 
into Moor Street, Digbeth, down Spiceal Street, Lee's 
Lane, and Worcester Street. This descent is broken 
only by the church yard, which, through a long course of 
interment for ages, is augmented into a considerable hill, 
chiefly composed of the refuse of life. We may, therefore, 
safely remark, in this place, the dead are raised up. Nor 
shall we be surprised at the rapid growth of the hill, when 
we consider this little point of land was alone that hungry 
grave which devoured the whole of the inhabitants, during 
the long ages of existence, till the year 1715, when 
St. Philip's was opened. The curious observer will easily 
discover the fabric has lost that symmetry which should 
ever attend architecture, by the growth of the soil about 
it, causing a low appearance in the building, so that 
instead of the church burying the dead, the dead would, 
in time, have buried the church. It is reasonable to allow, 
that the original approach into this place was by a flight 
of steps, not by a descent, as is the present case ; and that 



BIRMINGHAM. 



245 



the church yard was surrounded by a low wall. As 
the ground swelled by the accumulation of the dead, wall 
after wall was added to support the growing soil. Thus 
the fence and the hill sprang up together ; this was 
demonstrated, August 27, 1781, when, in removing two or 
three old houses, to widen St. Martin's Lane, they took 
down the church-yard wall, which was fifteen feet high 
without, and three within. This proved to be only an 
outward case that covered another wall twelve feet high ; 
in the front of which was a stone, elevated eight feet, and 
and inscribed, " Robert Dallaway, Francis Burton, church- 
wardens, anno dom. (supposed) 1310." As there is 
certain evidence that the church is much older than the 
above date, we should suspect there had been another 
fence many ages prior to this. But it was put beyond 
a doubt, when the workmen came to a third wall, four 
feet high, covered with antique coping, probably erected 
with the fabric itself, which would lead us far back into 
the Saxon times. 

The removal of the buildings to accommodate the 
street, the construction of the wall, beautified with palli- 
sades, is half an elegant plan, well executed. If we can 
persuade ourselves to perform the other half, by removing 
the remainder of the buildings, and continuing the line to 
the steps at the bottom of Spiceal Street, the work will 
stand in the front of modern improvement. 

This suggestion was carried out by the authority of an 
Act of Parliament, granted in 1807. The remainder of 
the buildings adjoining the church-yard were removed, 
and two and a half acres of land in Park Street were 
purchased for a cemetry. The whole cost £7,600. An 
annual levy was granted, to defray this expense, for many 
years. Many thousands of pounds were collected more 
than the original cost, and still a debt of £6000 remained 
unpaid. The people who had slumbered on this job, for 



246 HISTORY OF 

twenty years, were at length aroused and determined to 
pay no more, and the creditors were obliged to apply to 
the parliament for assistance. After considerable oppo- 
sition, the debt was allowed to be liquidated from the 
Poor Rates, by annual instalments. Two of the persons 
who successfully opposed and exposed this job, were Mr. 
G. Edmonds and Mr. J. Russell. 

As the country does not produce stone of a lasting 
texture, and as the rough blasts of nine hundred years 
had made inroads upon the fabric, it was thought ne- 
cessary, in 1690, to case both church and steeple with 
brick, except the spire, which is an elegant one. The 
bricks and the workmanship are excellent. 

The steeple has, within memory, been three times 
injured by lightning. Forty feet of the spire, in a de- 
cayed state, was taken down and rebuilt in 1781, with 
stone from Attleborough, near Nuneaton ; and strength- 
ened by a spindle of iron, running* up its centre one hundred 
and five feet long, secured to the side walls every ten feet 
by braces — the expense, £165 16s. 

Inclosed is a ring of twelve musical bells, and though 
I am not master of the bob-major and tripple-grandsire, 
yet am well informed the ringers are masters of the bell- 
rope ; but to excel in Birmingham is not new. 

The seats in the church would have disgraced a meaner 
parish than that of Birmingham ; one would be tempted 
to think, they were the first ever erected upon the spot, 
without taste or order ; the timber was become hard with 
age, and to the honour of the inhabitants, bright with 
use. Each sitting was a private freehold, and was 
farther disgraced, like the coffin of a pauper, with the 
paltry initials of the owner's name. These divine abodes 
were secured with the coarse padlocks of a field gate. 

By an attentive survey of the seats, we plainly discover 
the increasing population of Birmingham. When the 



BIRMINGHAM. 



247 



church was erected, there was doubtless sufficient room 
for the inhabitants, and it was probably the only place 
for public worship during eight hundred years. As the 
town increased, gallery after gallery was erected, till no 
conveniency was found for more. Invention was after- 
wards exerted to augment the number of sittings ; every 
recess capable only of admiting the body of an infant, 
was converted into a seat, which indicates the continual 
increase of people, and that a spirit of devotion was pre- 
valent among them. 

The floor of the church was greatly injured by inter- 
ment, as also the light, by the near approach of the build- 
ings, notwithstanding, in 1733, the middle roof of the 
chancel was taken off, and the side walls raised about 
nine feet, to admit a double range of windows. 

Dugdale, who wrote in 1640, gives us twenty- two draw- 
ings of the arms, in the windows, of those gentry who had 
connexion with Birmingham. 



1 Astley 


10 Freville 


2 Someri 


11 Ancient Birmingham 


3 Ancient Birmingham 


12 Knell 


4 Ancient Birmingham, the 


13 Fitz-Warrer 


second house 


14 Montalt 


5 Seagrave 


15 Modern Birmingham 


6 Modern Birmingham 


16 Hampden 


7 Ancient and modern Bir- 


17 Burdet 


mingham quartered 


18 Montalt 


8 Peshale quartering Botte- 


19 Modern Birmingham 


tort 


20 Beauchamp 


9 Birmingham quartering 


21 Ferrers 


Wyrley 


22 Latimere 


These twenty-two coats 


are now reduced to three, 



which are, 

Number two, in the east window of the chancel, or, two 
lions passa?it azure, the arms of the family of Someri, 



248 HISTORY OF 

Lords of Dudley Castle, and superior Lords of Birming- 
ham ; which having been extinct about four hundred and 
fifty years, the coat of arms must have been there at least 
during that period. 

Number three, in the south window of the chancel, 
azure, a bend lozenge of five points, or, the ancient arms 
of the family of Birmingham, which perhaps is upwards of 
four hundred years old, as that coat was not used after the 
days of Edward the I., except in quarterings. 

And number ten, in the north window, or, a cross 
indented gules ; also, five fleurs de lis, the ancient arms 
of Freville, Lords of Tamworth, whose ancester, Marmion, 
received a grant of that castle from William the Conqueror, 
and whose descendant, Lord Viscount Townshend, is the 
present proprietor. Perhaps this coat hath been there 
four hundred years, for the male line of the Freville family 
was extinct in the reign of Henry the IV. 

Under the south window of the chancel, by the door, 
were two monuments abreast, of white marble, much 
injured by the rude hand of time, and more by that of the 
ruder boys. The left figure which is very ancient, I take 
to be William de Birmingham, who was made prisoner by 
the French at the siege of Bellegard, in the 25th of Edward 
the I., 1297. He wears a short mantle, which was the 
dress of that time, a sword, expressive of the military 
order, and he also bears a shield with the bend lozenge, 
which seems never to have been borne after the above 
date. He was a crusader, and had visited the Holy Land, 
as is evident from his legs being crossed. The right hand 
figure, next the wall, is visibly marked with a much older 
date, perhaps about the conquest. The effigy does not 
appear in a military character, neither did the lords of 
that period. The value of these ancient relics have long 
claimed the care of the wardens, to preserve them from 
the injurious hand of the boys, and the foot of the window- 



BIRMINGHAM. 249 

cleaner, by securing them with a pallisade. Even West- 
minster Abbey, famous for departed glory, cannot produce 
a monument of equal antiquity. 

At the foot of these, is another of the same materials, 
belonging- to one of the Marrows, Lords of Birmingham. 

Under the north-east window, is a monument of white 
marble, belonging to one of the Lords of the house of 
Birmingham ; but this is of modern date compared with 
the others, perhaps not more than three hundred years ; he 
bearing the parte per pale, indented or 3 and gules. 

In the church is an excellent organ, and in the steeple a 
set of chimes, where the ing-enious artist treats us with a 
fresh tune every day of the week. 

North Gallery. 

John Crowley, in 1709, gave twenty shillings per annum, 
payable out of the lowermost house in the priory, to be 
distributed in bread, in the church, on St. John's-day, to 
housekeepers in Birmingham, who receive no pay. 

Joseph Hopkins died in 1683, who gave £200 with 
which an estate was purchased in Sutton Coldfield ; the 
rents to be laid out in coats, gowns, and other relief for 
the poor of Birming-ham ; he also gave £200 for the poor of 
Wednesbury ; £200 to distressed quakers ; £5 10s. to the 
poor of Birmingham, and the same sum to those of 
Wednesbury, at his death. 

Whereas the church of St. Martin's, in Birmingham, 
had only fifty-two ounces of plate in 1708, for the use of 
the communion table ; it was, by a voluntary subscription 
of the inhabitants, increased to two hundred and seventy- 
five — two flaggons, two cups, two covers and patterns with 
cases ; the whole £80 16s. 6d. 

Richard Banner ordered one hundred pounds to be laid 
out in lands within ten miles of Birmingham ; which sum, 
lying at interest, and other small donations being added, 

2 K 



250 HISTORY OF 

amounted to £170 with which an estate at Erdington, 
value £8 10s. per annum, was purchased for the poor of 
Birmingham. 

Richard Kilcup gave a house and garden at Spark 
Brook, for the church and poor. 

John Cooper gave a croft for making of love-days, (merri- 
ments) among Birmingham men. 

William Rixam gave a house in Spiceal-street, No. 26, 
for the use of the poor, in 1568. 

John Ward, in 1591, gave a house and lands in Marston 
Culey. 

William Colmore gave ten shillings per annum, payable 
out of the house No. 1, High Street. 

John Shelton gave ten shillings per annum, issuing out 
of a house occupied by Martin Day. 

Several of the above donations are included in Lench's 
trust. 

John Peak gave a chest bound with iron for the use of 
the church ; seemingly about two hundred years old, and 
of two hundred pounds weight. 

Edward Smith gave £20 per annum to the poor, in 
1612, and also erected the pulpit. 

John Billingsley, in 1629, gave twenty-six shillings 
yearly, chargeable upon a house in Dale End, to be given in 
bread, by sixpence every Sunday. 

One croft to find bell-ropes. 

Richard Dukesayle, in 1630, gave the utensils belonging 
to the communion table. 

Barnaby Smith, 1633, gave £20 to be lent to ten poor 
tradesmen, at the discretion of the churchwardens for two 
or three years. 

Catherine Roberts, wife of Barnaby Smith, in 1642, 
o-ave £20, the interest of which was to be given to the poor, 
the first Friday in Lent. 

John Jennens, 1651, gave £2 10*, for the use of the 



BIRMINGHAM. 251 

poor born and living 1 in Birmingham ; and also twenty 
shillings on St. Thomas's day. 

John Milward gave £26 per annum, lying in Bordesley ; 
one third to the school-master of Birmingham Free School ; 
one third to the principal of Brazen-noze College, Oxford, 
for the maintenance of one scholar from Birmingham or 
Haverfordwest, and the remainder to the poor, 

Joseph Pemberton gave forty shillings per annum, pay- 
able out of an estate at Tanworth, and twenty shillings 
out of an estate in Harbourne. 

Richard Smallbrook gave to the poor of Birmingham ten 

shillings per annum, arising out of a salt vat in Droitwich. 

Robert Whittall gave the pall, or beere cloth. 

Widow Cooper, of the Talbot, No. 20, in High Street, 

gave one towel and one sheet, to wrap the poor in the grave. 

Mrs. Jennens gave £10 per annum to support a lecture, 

the second and third Thursday in every month. 

This church, in 1816, underwent a thorough alteration, 
at the expense of upwards of £4000. The vast number of 
grave-stones, which nearly covered the floor, and the names 
of the defunct, with their concise funeral memoirs, were 
committed to the same oblivion as themselves. The arms, 
monuments, pews, pulpit, roof, and charities, fell in one 
general ruin. Nothing was left of this venerable edifice 
but part of the walls. Even the fine old monuments of 
the ancient lords, the pride of the church could barely find 
a place above ground, and that in the last stage of exist- 
ence, the stair-hole. With all my powers I pleaded for 
the lords and their arms ; but although I pleaded without 
a fee, I was no more regarded than some who plead with 
one. It is easy to destroy that which can never be restored. 
The following offspring of charity seems to have expired 
at its birth, but rose from the dead after an interment of 
fifty-four years. 

William Piddock, in 1728, devised his farm at Winson 



252 HISTORY OF! 

Green, about nine acres to his wife Sarah, during life and 
at her death, to his nephews and executors, William and 
John Riddall, their heirs and assigns for ever, in trust, for 
educating and putting out poor boys of Birmingham ; or 
other discretional charities in the same parish. 

But William and John wisely considered that they could 
not put money into any pocket sooner than their own ; 
that as the estate was in the family it was needless to 
disturb it ; that as the will was not known to the world, 
there was no necessity to publish it ; and, as it gave them 
a discretional power of disposal, they might as well con- 
sider themselves the poor, for they were both in the parish. 

Matters continued in this torpid state till 1782, when a 
quarrel between the brothers and a tenant broke the 
enchantment, and showed the actors in real view. 

The officers, in behalf of the town, filed a bill in 
chancery, and recovered the dormant property, which was 
committed in trust to the constables, churchwardens, and 
overseers of the day. 

The presentation of St. Martin's was vested in the family 
of Birmingham until the year 1537 ; since which it has 
passed through the Dudleys, the Crown, the Marrows, the 
Smiths, and Tennant. 

Rectors. 

1300 Thomas de Hinkley 

1304 Stephen de Segrave 

1304 John de Ayleston 

1336 Robert de Shuteford 

1349 William de Seggeley 

1354 Thomas de Dumbleton 

1369 Hugh de Wolvesey 

1396 Thomas Darnall 

1412 William Thomas 

1414 Richard Slowther 



BIRMINGHAM, 253 

1428 John Waryn 

1432 William Hyde 

1433 John Armstrong 
1433 John Wardale 
1436 Henry Cymon 
1444 Humphrey Jurdan 
1504 Richard Sutton 
1536 Richard Myddlemore 
1544 William Wrixam 
1578 Lucas Smith 

Thus far Dugdale. 

1644 Samuel Wills 

1659 Samuel Slater 

1662 John Riland 

1672 Henry Grove 

William Daggett 

William Green 

Thomas Tyrer 

1732 Richard Dovey 

1771 Richard Chase 

1772 John Parsons 

1779 William Hinton, D. D. 
1781 Charles Curtis 
1829 Thomas Moseley. 

During Cromwell's government, Slater a broken apothe- 
cary of this place, having been unsuccessful in curing the 
body, resolved to attempt curing' the soul. He therefore, 
to repair his misfortunes, assumed the clerical character, 
and cast an eye on the rectory of St. Martin's ; but 
he had many powerful opponents ; among- others were 
Jennens, an iron-master, possessor of Aston furnace ; 
Smallbroke, another wealthy inhabitant ; and Sir Thomas 
Holt. However he, with difficulty triumphed over his 



254 HISTORY OF 

enemies, stepped into the pulpit, and held the rectory till 
the restoration. 

Being determined, in his first sermon, to lash his enemies 
with the whip of those times, he told his people, " The 
Lord had carried him through many troubles ; for he had 
passed, like Shedrach, Meshach, and Abednego, through 
the fiery furnace. And as the Lord had enabled the 
children of Israel to pass over the Red Sea, so he had 
assisted him in passing over the Small-brooks, and to 
overcome the strong Holts of sin and Satan." 

At the restoration, suspecting the approach of the proper 
officers to expel him from the parsonage house, he crept 
into a hiding-place, under the stairs ; but, being dis- 
covered, was drawn out by force, and the place ever after 
bore the name of Slater's Hole. 

John Riland succeeded him, who is celebrated for piety, 
learning, and a steady adherence to the interest of 
Charles the I. ; in whose cause he seems to have lost every 
thing he possessed, but his life. He was remarkable for 
compromising quarrels among his neighbours, often at an 
expense to himself; also for constantly carrying a charity 
box, to relieve the distress of others ; and, though robbed 
of all himself, never thought he was poor, except when 
his box was empty. He died in 1672, aged fifty- 
three. 

A succeeding rector, William Daggett, is said to have 
understood the art of boxing, better than that of preaching : 
his clerk often felt the weightier argument of his hand. 
Meeting a quaker, whose profession, then in infancy, did 
not stand high in esteem, he offered some insults, which 
the other resenting, told him, " If he was not protected 
by his cloth, he would make him repent the indignity." 
Daggett immediately stripped, " There, now I have 
thrown off my protection." — They fought ; but the 
spiritual bruiser proved too hard for the injured quaker. 






BIRMINGHAM. 255 

Among the rectors we sometimes behold a magistrate ; 
at others,, those who for misconduct ought to have been 
taken before one. 

The rectory in the king's books, was valued, in 1291, at 
£5 per annum ; and in 1536, at £19 3s. 6d. 



A Terrier' of the Rectory, written by the Rector, 
about 1680. 

A house wherein the present rector, Mr. Dag-get, resides. 
[Parsonage House.] 

Two other houses in Birmingham [now three, at No. 
15, Spiceal Street.] 

Three pieces of glebe land, nineteen acres, between the 
the school land and Sheepcoat Lane. 

Three pieces, called the Five-Way Closes, twenty-one 
acres, bounded by the lands of Samuel Smallbroke, Esq. 
and Josiah Porter. 

One Close, two acres, bounded by Ladywood Lane. 
Parson's Meadow, two acres, bounded by the lands of 
Thomas Smith, Sir Richard Gough, and Sir Arthur 
Kaye. 

Horsepool Croft, half an acre, bounded by Bell's Barn 
Lane, [Brickiln Lane] the lands of Robert Phillips and 
Samuel Smallbroke, Esqrs. 

Tithe of all kinds of grain; but instead of hay, wool, 
and lamb, a due of one shilling in the pound rent, called 
herbage, in all the parish, except foreign, wherein the 
custom is fourpence per acre for meadow land, three- 
pence per acre for leas, threepence for each lamb, three 
halfpence for a cow and calf; and except part of the 
estate of William Colmore, Esq. \vith the Hall Ring, 
Tanter Butts, Bell's Barns, [No. J, Exeter Row,] and 
Rings, for the herbage of which is paid annually thirteen 
shillings and fourpence, and also, except part of the estate 



256 HISTORY OF 

ot Samuel Smallbrook, Esq. for which he pays eight shil- 
lings, per annum ; and except the estate of Thomas 
Weaman, called WhittalPs Farm, [Catherine Street] for 
which he pays two shillings and eightpence. 

All the above the estates pay the customary modus, 
whether in or out of tillage . 



Surplice Fees. 












Rector. 


Clerk. 




s. 


d. 


s. 


d. 


For burying in the church 


1 





1 





Ditto church-yard - 





6 





6 


Churching a woman - 





4 





4 


Marrying by licence - - - 


5 





2 


6 


Ditto without - - - 


2 


6 


1 





Tithe pig, if seven or upwards 





4 








Easter dues, man and wife 





4 








Easter dues, each person, above sixteen 





4 









Clerk's salary £1, paid by the wardens ; also twopence 
from each housekeeper at Easter. 

From the above terrier, I am inclined to value the 
income at about £90 per annum. 

The benefice in 1771, was about £350 per annum. 
A late rector, John Parsons, procured an act, in 1773, to 
enable the incumbent to grant building leases; the 
grant of a single lease in 1777, brought the annual addi- 
tion of about £170. The income is now about £4000. 

The repairs of the chancel belong to the rector, and the 
remainder of the building to the parish. 

The church is now lighted with gas, and an evening 
service is performed there. The parsonage house is now 
in Bath Row. The old one occupied the site of Pershore 
Street ; the Mart,&c. near Smallbrook Street. The land, 
containing seven thousand three hundred and forty-five 



BIRMINGHAM.' 257 

square yards, was sold, in 1826, for the sum of £5550, 
and has since been let off, in various lots, for building, at 
a handsome profit. 

St. John's Chapel, Deritend. 

This, though joining to the parish of Birmingham, is a 
chapel of ease belonging' to Aston, two miles distant. 
Founded in the fifth of Richard the II., 1382. As soon as 
the chapel was erected, William Geffen, Thomas Holden, 
Robert of the Green, Richard Bene, Thomas de Belne, 
and John Smith, procured a license from the king 1 , to 
enable them to endow it with lands to the annual value of 
£6 135. 4.d. to support a priest ; who, with his successors, 
seem to have exercised the usual functions of office, as 
singing, eating, preaching, and sleeping, till 1537, when 
Henry the VIII. seized the property as chantry lands, valued 
at £13 Is. Id. per annum. Two priests, who officiated at 
Aston, then possessed the pulpit, and divided the income. 

I am inclined to think, by interest made to the crown, 
Henry returned the lands ; for in 1553, we find John Mole 
and Edward Keys, incumbents of Deritend, at £5 each. 

In 1677, Humphrey Lowe, of Coventry, bequeathed a 
farm at Rowley-Regis, called the Brick-house, then let at 
£35, to support the chapel. This bequest is held, in trust, 
by six of the inhabitants of Deritend or Bordesley. 

Solicitations were made in 1707, for Queen Ann's bounty, 
but the return made by the governors being £38, they 
were rejected. 

This chapel does not, like others in Birmingham, seem 
to have been erected first, and the houses brought round it. 
It appears, by its extreme circumscribed latitude, to have 
been founded upon the site of other buildings, which were 
purchased, or rather given, by Sir John de Birmingham, 
Lord of Deritend, and situated upon the boundaries of 
the manor, perhaps to accommodate in some measure, the 

2 L 



258 HISTORY OF 

people of Digbeth; because the church in Birmingham 
must, for many ages, have been too small for the inhabit- 
ants. 

Time seems to have worn out that building- of 1382, in 
the windows of which were the arms of Lord Dudley, and 
Dudley empaling Berkley, both knights of the garter, 
descended from the Somerys, Barons of Dudley castle ; 
also a whole figure 'of Walter Arden, Esq., of an ancient 
family, often mentioned Lord of Bordesley. The present 
building- was erected in 1735, and the steeple in 1762. 
In 1777, eight of the most musical bells, together with a 
clock entered the steeple. Income in 1791, £100, now 
considerably augmented, by the advance in the value of 
property. The building is of brick, and will accomodate 
about seven hundred persons. The incumbent is elected 
by the inhabitant householders of the hamlets of Deritend 
and Bordesley. 

Chaplains. 

James Spilsbury - - 1699 

1699 Israel Warten - - 1714 

1714 John Haws - - - 1716 

1716 Richard Gibbons - - 1717 

1717 John Hansted - - 1755 
1755 Thomas Cox - - - 1791 
1791 John Darwall - - 1828 
1828 Edward Palmer - 

St. Philip's. 
We have touched upon various objects in our peregrina- 
tions through Birmingham, which meet with approbation, 
though viewed through the medium of smoke ; some of 
these, being covered with the rust of time, command our 
veneration ; but the prospect before us is wholly modern 
We have mounted, by imperceptible gradations, from 
beauty to beauty, till we are now arrived at the summit. 




ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH. 



BIRMINGHAM. 259 

If an historian had written in the last century, he would 
have recorded but two places of worship. The artist who 
carries the manufactures among' foreigners, or the man who 
wantonly loads the people with burdens, draws the wrath 
of the place upon his own head. 

This curious piece of architecture, the steeple of which 
is erected after the model of St. Paul's, in London, but 
without its weight, does honour to the age that raised it, 
and to the place that contains it. Perhaps the eye of the 
critic cannot point out a fault, which the hand of the artist 
can mend ; perhaps too, the attentive eye cannot survey 
this pile of building, without communicating to the mind a 
small degree of pleasure. If the materials are not proof 
against time, it is rather a misfortune to be lamented, than 
an error to be complained of, the country producing no 
better. 

Yet, amidst "all the excellences we boast, I am sorry to 
charge this chief ornament with an evil which admits no 
cure, that of not ranging with its own symmetry, or the 
adjacent buildings ; out of seven streets, with which it is 
connected, it lines with none. We may be delighted with 
a human figure, complete in stature, exactly moulded with 
symmetry, and set off with the graces of dress ; but we 
should be disgusted, if his right side seemed to attempt to 
out-walk his left. 

This defect in religious architecture, arises from a strict 
adherence to the custom of the ancients, who fixed their 
altars towards the east. It is amazing, that even weak- 
ness itself, by long practice, becomes canonical ; it gains 
credit by its age and its company. Hence, Sternhold and 
Hopkins, by being long bound up with scripture, acquired 
a kind of scripture authority. 

The ground, originally, was part of a farm, and bore 
the name of the Horse Close ; afterwards Barley Close. 
Thus a benign spot of earth gave additional spirits to a 



200 HISTORY OF 

man when living, and kindly covered him in its bosom 
when dead. This well chosen spot is the summit of the 
highest eminence in Birmingham, with a descent every 
way ; and, when the church was erected, there were not 
any buildings nearer than those in Bull Street. The land 
was the gift of Robert Phillips, Esq., whence the name, 
ancestor to William Theodore Inge, Esq. 
i In all degrees of people, from the bishop to the beadle, 
there seems a propensity in the mind to arrive at the 
honours of sainthood : by joining our names in partnership 
with a saint, we share with him a red letter in the almanack, 
Out of six churches in Birmingham, three bear the names 
of the donors. St. Bartholomew's would, probably, have 
taken that of its founder, John Jennens, Esq. but that 
name happened to be anticipated by Sir John de Birming- 
ham, who conferred it upon Deritend Chapel. St. Mary's 
could readily perpetuate the name of its benefactress, 
because we had no place of worship that bore it. But as 
neither the popish nor the protestant calendar produced 
a St. Charles, the founder of St. Paul's was unfortunately 
excluded. 

The gifts, which the benefactor himself believes are 
charitable, and expects the world to believe the same, if 
scrutinized, will be found to orginate from various causes 
— counterfeits are apt to be offered in currency for sterling. 
Perhaps ostentation has brought forth more acts of benefi- 
cence than charity herself; but, like an unkind parent, 
she disowns her offspring", and charges them upon charity. 
— Ostentation is the root of charity ; why else are we told, 
in capitals, by a large stone in the front of a building — 
" This hospital was erected by William Bilby, in the 
sixty-third year of his age, 1709." Or, that " John 
Moore, yeoman, of Worley Wigorn, built this school in 
1730." Nay, pride even tempts us to strut in a second- 
hand robe of charity, left by another ; or why do we read 



BIRMINGHAM. 261 

— (t These alms-houses were erected by Lench's trust in 
1764. W. WALSINGHAM, Bailiff." Another utters 
the word charity, and we rejoice in the echo. If we miss 
the substance, we grasp at the shadow. 

Sometimes we assign our property for religious uses 
late in the evening- of life, when enjoyment is over, and 
almost possession. Thus we bequeath to piety what we 
can keep no longer. We convey our name to posterity at 
the expense of our successor, and scaffold our way towards 
heaven up the walls of a steeple. Will charity chalk up 
one additional score in our favour, because we grant a 
small portion of our land to found a church, which enables 
us to augment the remainder treble its value, by granting 
building leases ? A man seldom makes a bargain for 
heaven, and forgets himself. Charity and self-interest, like 
the apple and the rind, are closely connected, and, like 
them, we cannot separate one without trespassing on the 
other. 

In contributions of the lesser kind, the giver examines 
the quantum given by those of his own station ; pride 
will not suffer him to appear less than his neighbour. 

Sometimes he surrenders merely through importunity, 
which indicates as much charity, as the garrison does 
merit which surrenders when closely besieged. Neither do 
we fear our left hand knoiuing what oar right hand doth, 
our only fear is, lest the world should not know it. 

This superb edifice was begun by act of parliament in 
1711, under a commission, consisting of twenty of the 
neighbouring gentry, appointed by the bishop of the diocese, 
under his episcopal seal. Their commission was to end 
twelve months after the erection of the church. 

Though Birmingham ever was, and perhaps ever will be, 
considered as one parish, yet a portion of land, about one 
hundred acres, nearly triangular, and about three-fourths 
built up, was taken out of the centre of St. Martin's, like a 



262 HISTORY OF 

shred of cloth out of a great coat to make a less, and con- 
stituted a separate parish, by the appellation of St. Philip's. 
We shall describe this new boundary by an imaginary 
journey, for a real one perhaps was never taken since the 
land was first laid out, nor ever will to the end of time. 
(See Plan.) 

The church was consecrated in 1715, and finished in 
1719, the work of eight years; at which time the com- 
missioners resigned their powers into the hands of the 
diocesan, in whom is the presentation, after having paid, 
it is said, the trifling sum of £5012 ; but perhaps such a 
work could not be completed for £20,000. Three reasons 
may be assigned why so small a sum was expended ; many 
of the materials were given; more of the carriage, and 
some heavy debts were contracted. 

The urns upon the parapet of the church, which are 
highly ornamental, were fixed at the same time with those 
of the school, in about 1756. The celebrated Baskerville, 
was churchwarden at the time. 

When I first saw St. Philip's, in the year 1741, at a 
proper distance, uncrowded with houses, for there were 
none to the north, New Hall excepted, untarnished with 
smoke, and illuminated by a western sun, I was delighted 
with its appearance, and thought it then, what I do now, 
and what others will in future, the pride of the place. 
If we assemble the beauties of the edifice, which cover 
a rood of ground ; the spacious area of the church- 
yard, occupying four acres, ornamented with walks in 
great perfection, shaded with trees in double and treble 
ranks, and surrounded with buildings in elegant taste ; 
perhaps its equal cannot be found in the British do- 
minions. 

The steeple till the year 1761 contained a peal of six 
bells, which were then augmented to ten ; at which time 
St. Martin's, the mother church, having only eight, could 



BIRMINGHAM. 263 

not bear to be out- numbered by a junior, though of superior 
elegance, therefore ordered twelve into her own steeple ; 
but as room was insufficient for the admission of bells by 
the dozen, means were found to hoist them tier over tier. 
Though the round dozen is a complete number in the 
counting-house, it is not altogether so in the belfry ; the 
octave is the most perfect concord in music, but diminishes 
by rising to an octave and a half ; neither can that dozen 
well be crowded into the peal. But perhaps the artist had 
another grand scheme in view, that of accomodating the 
town with the additional harmony of the chimes ; for only 
a few tunes can be played on the octave, whilst the dozen 
will compass nearly all. 

Two thousand people may be accomodated in the church, 
but it has contained near three thousand. 

In the vestry is a theological library, bequeathed by the 
first rector, William Higgs, for the use of the clergy in 
Birmingham and its neighbourhood, who left £200 for 
future purchase, which was afterwards made, and an elegant 
library erected adjoining the parsonage house, by the Rev. 
Mr. Madan, in 1792. 

Under the centre aisle runs a vault, the whole length of 
the church, for the reception of those who choose to pay an 
additional guinea. 

The organ excels ; the paintings, mouldings , and gildings 
are superb ; whether the stranger takes an external or an 
internal survey, the eye is struck with delight, and he pro- 
nounces the whole the work of a master. Its conveniency 
also can only be equalled by its elegance. 

In the Front Gallery, 

Upon application of Sir Richard Gough to Sir Robert 
Walpole, then in power, George the I. gave £600, in 1725 
towards finishing this church. Three remarks naturally 
arise from this declaration : that the prodigious sums 



264 HISTORY OF 

expended upon this pious undertaking, were beyond the 
ability of the inhabitants ; that the debts contracted were 
many years in discharging- ; and that one of the best of 
kings, the head of the Brunswick line, bestowed a liberal 
benefaction upon a people not completely reconciled to his 
house. 

Interment in the church is wisely prohibited; an in- 
decency incompatible with a civilized people. The 
foreigner will be apt to hold forth the barbarity of the 
English nation, by observing, " they introduce corruption 
in their very churches, and pay divine adoration upon the 
graves of their ancestors." Places of worship were designed 
for the living ; the dead give up their title with their life ; 
besides, even small degrees of putrefaction, confined in a 
room where the air cannot circulate, may become pre- 
judicial to health ; it also ruins the pavement, as was 
done at St. Martin's. Our first inhabitants, therefore, lie 
contented in the church-yard, by their unfortunate equals, 
having private sepulchres appropriated for family use. 
Perhaps at the last day, no inquiry will be made whether 
they lay on the in or the outside of the walls. 

The musical festivals which have become popular and 
fashionable resorts, for many years past, were held in this 
church, till 1834; when the festival, for that season, was 
held in the Town Hall, of which we shall have occasion to 
speak, when we come to the article Town Hall. The 
income, in 1791, was about £300, now worth £500. 

Rectors. 

1715 William Higgs 

1733 William Vyse 

1770 Charles Newling 

1787 Spencer Maden 

1809 Edmund Outram 

1821 Lawrence Gardner 




: , / i^HWaiHi 



BIRMINGHAM. 265 

St. Bartholomew's, 

Built in 1749, on the east side of the town, will accom- 
modate about eight hundred hearers ; is neat and elegant. 
The land was the gift of John Jennens, Esq. possessor of 
a considerable estate, in and near Birmingham. 

By the solicitation of Mrs. Weaman, Mrs. Jennens gave 
£1000 and the remainder was raised by contribution, to 
accomplish the building. 

Wherever a chapel is erected, the houses immediately, 
as if touched by the wand of magic, spring into existence. 
Here is a spacious area for interment, amply furnished by 
death. The infant steeple, if it will bear the name, is 
very small, but beautiful. The chancel has this singular 
difference from others, that it veres towards the north. 
Whether the projector committed an error, I leave to the 
critics. It was the general practice of the Pagan church to 
fix their altar, upon which they sacrificed, in the east, 
towards the rising 1 sun, the object of worship. The 
Christian church, in the time of the Romans, immediately 
succeeded the Pagan, and scrupulously adopted the same 
method ; which has been strictly adhered to. By what 
obligation the Christian is bound to follow the Pagan, 
or wherein a church would be injured by being directed 
to any of the thirty-two points in the compass, is doubtful. 
Certain it is, if the chancel of Bartholomew's had tended 
due east, the eye would have been exceedingly hurt, and 
the builder would have raised an object of ridicule for ages. 
The ground will admit of no situation but that in which 
the church now stands. But the inconsiderate architect 
of Deritend Chapel, anxious to catch the eastern point, 
lost the line of the street ; we may therefore justly pro- 
nounce, he sacrificed to the east. 

The altar piece was the gift of Basil, Earl of Denbigh : 
and the communion plate, consisting of one hundred and 
eighty-two ounces, that of Mary Careless. The appoint- 

2 m 



206 HISTORY Ol 

ment of chaplain rests with the rector of St. Martin's. 
The income arising entirely from pew rents, is precarious. 
It was, in 1791, about £100. Chaplain, Rev. Thomas 
Nunns. 

St. Mary's. 

Though the houses for divine worship were multiplied in 
Birmigtiam, yet the inhabitants increased in a greater 
proportion ; so that in 1772, an act was obtained for two 
additional chapels. St. Mary's, therefore, was erected in 
1774, in the octagonal form, not overcharged with light nor 
strength ; in an airy situation. The clock was seldom 
seen to go right, but the wonder ceases if there are no 
works within. 

The land was the gift of Mary Weaman, in whom is the 
presentation, who inducted the Rev. John Ryland. Annual 
income about £200. Present chaplain, Rev. E. Burn. 

St. Paul's. 

The act was procured for this chapel at the same time 
as for that of St. Mary's ; but it was not erected till 1779, 
upon a spot of ground given by Charles Colmore, Esq., 
upon the declivity of a hill, not altogether suitable for the 
elegant building it sustains, which is of stone — plain 
beauty unites with strength. 

This roof, like that of St. Mary's, appears too full. In 
1791, a beautiful window was placed over the communion 
table, representing the Conversion of St. Paul ; by that 
celebrated artist, Francis Eginton; price four hundred 
guineas. 

In 1823, the steeple was erected, which does great 
honour to this modern stile of architecture, sufficient money 
could not be raised to erect it with the chapel. The 
chapel contains eleven hundred sittings, three hundred 
of which are free. There is also accommodation for two 



BIRMINGHAM. 267 

hundred Sunday school children, s Burial fees, part of 
which is paid to the rector of St. Martin's ; and pew rents, 
which are lower by one half, than at any other chapel in 
Birmingham, according- to Act of Parliament, are the 
only sources of support for the minister. Patron, Edward 
Latimer, Esq. Chaplains, 1779, William Toy Young; 
1817, Ran Kenedy. 

St. James's Chapel) Ashted, 
Was, previous to 1789, the residence of the celebrated 
physician, Dr. Ash, hence the name of this chapel, and the 
district around it. It was used as a place of worship, from 
the above date, till 1810, without consecration. A plot of 
land was attached at the latter date, for a cemetry, which 
with the chapel, was then consecrated. It is a chapel of 
ease to Aston. Minister, Rev. Edward Burn. 

Christ Church. 

Isaac Hawkins, deceased, having left a sum of money, 
to be disposed of at the discretion of his executors, the sum 
of £1000 was offered by them to build a free church : the 
Bishop of Lichfield offered to annex the prebend of Tach- 
broke, of the cathedral church of Lichfield, to the income 
of the minister ; and William Philips Inge, Esq., presented 
a piece of land for its site. Under these flattering prospects 
the first stone was laid, July 22, 1805, by Richard 
Pratchet, high bailiff. But, notwithstanding a subscription 
was entered into, and his Majesty George III. gave £1 000, 
the funds were soon exhausted, and the work lay dormant 
for several years. The church was consecrated July 6th, 
1813, and opened for public worship on the 18th. The 
spire and portico were not added till 1815; and in Decem- 
ber, 1816, the clock, which has four dials, was put up. 
The delay in finishing this church, is, no doubt, attributable 
to the distress and actual decrease in the population, about 
this period, see page 81. A lofty portico in front, is sup- 



268 HISTORY OF 

ported by four Roman Doric columns. The spire is any 
thing but handsome. The length of the building is about 
one hundred and forty feet, by seventy-one wide. There 
is a fine-toned and powerful organ, by Elliot, and a 
beautiful altar-piece, of carved mahogany, presented by 
Mr. Stock, of Bristol, and accomodation for one thousand 
five hundred hearers. A double staircase, constructed 
upon geometrical principles, the balustrades of which are 
iron, cased with brass, leads to the gallery. The whole 
of the ground floor sittings are free, those in the galleries 
are let, and from these arise the principal income of the 
minister. The males are not suffered to sit with the 
females on the free seats. Present minister, the Rev. 
George Hodgson, who is chaplain to the bishop of the 
diocese, and holds some other benefices. The church is 
lighted with gas, and service is performed morning and 
evening on Sundays, and every Thursday evening. The 
curacy which is a perpetual one, is in the gift of the Bishop of 
Lichfield and Coventry. The radicals, in 1819, marched 
in a very formidable body to this church, to hear divine 
service ; the minister, the Rev. John Hume Spry, who 
preached a political sermon, in defence of the government, 
upon this occasion, is said to have been rewarded with a 
deanery, for his conduct, 

St, George's Church 

Is erected in a pleasant and healthful spot, at the top of 
Tower Street, around which, since 1822, as much building 
has sprung up as would of itself make a small town. 
It is constituted a parish church. The parish is bound to 
contribute to the repairs of St. Martin's for twenty years. 
Marriage and all other religious rites may be performed 
here. The parish comprises Summer Hill, Camden Street, 
War stone Lane, Key Hill, part of Nelson, Frederick, 
Regent, Viltoria Kenion, Livery, and Water Streets; 




ST. GEORGES CHURCH. 



BIRMINGHAM. 269 

Great Hampton, Branstone, Hall, Hockley, Harford, and 
Barr Streets; Constitution Hill, Great Hampton Row, 
Henrietta, Bond, Little Hampton, Hospital, Tower, and 
Brearley Streets; Summer Lane, Newtwon Row, Ormond, 
Manchester, Slews, and Brewery Streets, fyc. The 
church was erected from designs by Thomas Rickman, 
architect, in the gothic style of the reign of Edward the III. 
It stands near the centre of a burial ground of considerable 
size, walled round, with handsome entrance gates, and cast 
iron piers. The first stone was laid April 19, 1820, and 
the church opened for divine service, September 15, 1.822. 
The entire expense of the building amounted to £12,735, 
and what is rather remarkable, £1 100 less than the estimate. 
Part of the site was purchased by private subscription, 
and the rest given by Miss Colmore and the Marquis of 
Hertford. Interior dimensions of the building, ninety- 
eight feet by sixty ; width of the nave, twenty-six feet ; 
height forty-five. Height of the tower to the top of the 
pinnacles, one hundred and fourteen feet. Number of 
sittings one thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine; one 
thousand four hundred of which are free. The interior is 
fitted up with a splendid organ, to match the building, 
stained glass windows, and decorated altar-piece. Minister, 
the Rev. John Garbett, A.M. 

Trinity Chapel, Bordesley. 
This chaste and beautiful gothic edifice, stands by the 
road leading to Warwick and Stratford, in the hamlet of 
Bordesley, and in the parish of Aston. The design is by 
T. Goodwin, architect, of London. The interior is fitted 
up in a superior style of elegance. The altar-piece, by 
Foggo, represents Christ healing at the pool of Bethesda. 
The Catherine-wheel window, and the general appearance 
of the interior are much admired for their simplicity and 
beauty. The external length is one hundred and thirty- 
five feet, by seventy-six broad. The internal dimensions 



270 



HJSTOKY OF 



ninety feet by sixty, and the height forty-five feet. The 
cost of the erection, to the amount of £14,235, was de- 
frayed by the commissioners for building new churches ; 
but expenses of some thousands of pounds were incurred in 
the purchase of land for cemetry, residence for clergyman, 
&c. Subscriptions to the amount of £3000 were raised, 
which proved insufficient to liquidate the debt. The first 
stone was laid September 29, 1820, and the chapel conse- 
crated January 23, 1823. The number of sittings one 
thousand eight hundred and twenty-one ; the whole of 
the gallery is free. The nomination rests in the vicar of 
Aston. Perpetual curate, Samuel Crane. 

Saint Peter's, 
Situate in Dale End, is another of the churches erected 
by the commissioners for building new churches, or rather 
by part of a grant made by parliament of two millions 
sterling, for such purposes. The spot upon which it 
stands, was covered with buildings, previous to its erection. 
It is in the Grecian stile of architecture, with a massive 
Doric portico, of four columns, after the example from the 
temple of Minerva, at Athens. The interior length, ex- 
clusive of the chancel and porch, is one hundred feet, the 
width, sixty feet. The first stone was laid July 26, 1825 ; 
opened for divine service, August 10, 1827. The site cost 
nearly £6000, the structure, £13,000, The architects, 
Messrs. Rickman and Hutchinson. This building was 
accidently burnt, on the night of January 24, 1831, and 
the whole of the interior destroyed. It is now being re- 
stored by subscription. It would accommodate about two 
thousand persons. It is in the parish of St. Philip's ; and 
the curacy is in the gift of the rector. Minister, Anthony 
James Clark, who is rector of Portlock, Somerset. 

Saint Thomas's, 
Erected upon a pleasant eminence, called Hollowayhead. 




% '! II' 




ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH. 



BIRMINGHAM. 271 

The first stone was laid October 2, 1826, and the church 
was consecrated October 22, 1829. It is a large and 
handsome structure, in the Grecian style, with two circular 
porticoes of the Ionic order. The tower is one hundred 
and thirty feet high, and is supported by massive piers. 
The whole appearance of this building has an imposing 
effect. Rickman and Hutchinson architects. It is 
probable that this will be constituted a separate parish. 
The arbitrary manner in which these parishes are taken, 
will leave poor old St. Martin's, with its two thousand 
eight hundred and sixty -four acres, nothing but shreds and 
patches. Interior dimensions of this church, one hundred 
and thirty feet long, by sixty wide, and the height of the 
ceiling thirty-eight feet, which is coved, pannelled, and 
enriched with flowers. There are two thousand one hun- 
dred and twenty-five sittings, of which one thousand five 
hundred are free. Total cost of the building, £14,222. 
Minister, William Marsh. 

All Saints 

Is the last, and I think the least, of the places of worship, 
built for the established church in the parish of St. Martin, 
but very near the boundaries of it, in the road to the Soho. 
It is a neat structure ; in the Gothic style, built of brick, 
with stone pinnacles and cornices. Consecrated, September 
28, 1833. Minister, S. F. Morgan. 

Old Meeting House. 

Birmingham being exempt from the operation of the 
Oxford or Five Mile Act, which prohibited nonconforming 
ministers from coming within five miles of any corporate 
town, or of the place where they had exercised their 
ministry ; it was therefore a refuge for many of the ejected 
ministers, who were deprived of their livings and benefices 
by Charles the II., who vainly attempted in 1662, to 



272 HISTORY OF 

enforce a uniformity of faith and worship, by act of parlia- 
ment. These conscientious men conducted in secret, but 
perseveringly, those devotions the law declared to be 
illegal, amid peril and persecution, from house to house. 
In 1672, an indulgence was granted, and the first room 
licensed for public worship, at which a Mr. Samuel Fisher 
preached, who had been ejected from Thornton-in-the- 
Moor, Cheshire. Another indulgence was granted in 
1687, which was followed by the Act of Toleration in 
1689. The date of the register of the first building erected 
upon the site of the present Old Meeting House, and 
of the first Protestant Dissenting Chapel erected in Bir- 
mingham, for which, see plate of Old Meeting House, 
destroyed in 1791. 

In 1709 Dr. Sacheverell raised the cry of " The church 
in danger," which was responded to by various bigots 
throughout the country, and which continued with some 
intermissions, till after the death of Queen Ann. At 
this time the hatred, which had been fostered by the high 
church party broke out, July 16, 1715, and serious riots 
took place. On Saturday, July 16, the mob gutted the 
Lower Meeting House, and on the Sunday attacked the 
Upper or Old Meeting House, and destroyed nearly the 
whole of the interior by fire. They pulled down a Meeting 
House, at Bromwich, burnt one at Oldbury, and another 
at Dudley, and pulled down one at Cradley, and another 
at Bradley. 

In 1748 a portion of this society adopting Calvinistic 
principles, seceded from the Old Meeting, and formed them- 
selves into a society in Carr's Lane, where they continue to 
flourish. 1791, is one of the most memorable years in the 
annals of this place of worship, a repetition of those dis- 
graceful scenes which occurred seventy-six years before, 
took place to a much greater extent. The Old Meeting 
House was entirely destroyed by fire, and the present neat 



BIRMINGHAM. 273 

and commodious building erected upon its site, which was 
opened 4th of October, 1795. The society recovered from 
the hundred, the sum of £1390 Is. 5d. The present build- 
ing is square, of brick, fifty-nine by fifty-nine. A reformed 
liturgy was introduced into the service of this congregation, 
October 11, 1829. A burial place is attached to this 
Meeting House, which was enlarged in 1779 by subscrip- 
tion ; it is used in common by both Old and New Meeting 
Houses. 

The number of sittings one thousand one hundred. 
This and a Meeting- House in Digbeth, near Deritend, 
were the only two places of worship for Protestant Dis- 
senters for nearly fifty years. 

Ministers of the Old, Meeting House. 



W. Turton 


1686 


1716 


D. Greenwood 


1700 


1730 


E. Broadhurst 


1714 


1730 


D. Mattock 


1732 


1746 


J. Wilkinson 


1739 


1756 


W. Howell ; - 


1746 


1770 


S. Clark 


- V 1756 


1769 


R. Scholefield - 


1772 


1799 


N. Nichols 


1779 


1784 


J. Coates 


1785 


1801 


R. Kell 


1801 


1821 


J. Corrie 


1817 


1819 


S. W. Browne - , 


1819 


1821 


H. Hutton 


1822 





New Meeting House. 

In 1692, three years after the first meeting-house for 

Protestant Dissenters was founded, one place of worship 

proved insufficient for the accommodation of the increasing 

numbers of nonconformists in BirmingTiam. A second 

2 n . 



274 HISTORY OF 

society, which had some time before existed, opened a 
meeting-house in Digbeth. In 1715, this place suffered 
from the rude hands of a lawless mob, which had been ex- 
cited to acts of violence by the cry of " the church in 
danger !" Upon a promise made by the proprietor that 
the place should be put to other uses, the rioters took out 
the seats, and whatever else they could find belonging to 
the congregation, and burnt them, leaving the chapel un- 
injured. This chapel was subject to floods in winter, and 
during the heavy rains of summer, being near the river 
Rea, which frequently overflowed its banks. Floods have 
occurred but seldom of late years, owing to the bed of the 
river having being made deeper, and embankments, &c, 
constructed. This, and want of room, caused a New 
Meeting House to be contemplated, about 1725, and a 
chapel was erected in Moor Street, upon the site of the 
present new meeting-house, and was opened April 19, 1732. 
The Lower Meeting House was afterwards converted into 
a workshop, and the spot still bears the name of Meeting 
House Yard. The sound of the pulpit is changed into that 
of the bellows ; instead of an impression upon the heart, it 
is now stamped upon the button. The visitants used to 
appear in a variety of colours, but now always in black. 
The celebrated Dr. Priestley was chosen as co-pastor, with 
Mr. Blithe, in 1780, whose name will be handed down to 
posterity, as a bright example of Christian simplicity and 
mildness ; this, together with his philosophical researches 
and discoveries, will gild the pages of history, and gain the 
admiration of the scientific, and the veneration of all sects 
of Christians. This meeting-house was totally destroyed 
on the night of July 14, 1791, by a "Church and King" 
mob. A valuable library belonging to the congregation 
fell a prey to the flames. The Old Meeting House shared 
a similar fate, and the rioters proceeded to the house of Dr. 
Priestley, which they fired, and his valuable library, manu- 



BIRMINGHAM. 275 

scripts, philosophical apparatus and instruments perished. 
Dr. Priestley was obliged to fly. By these proceedings, 
the New Meeting House was for ever deprived of his 
services, and posterity, of works which had taken a long 
life of industry, care, and perseverance to compile; and 
eventually, the country, of a man of whom at this day it is 
justly proud. He sought in another land, that peace, 
that honour, and that regard, his own countrymen had 
denied him. 

At this period the two societies met jointly, in a building, 
in Livery Street, until their respective places of worship 
were rebuilt. July 22, 1802, the present building was 
opened for pubic worship. It is a neat and convenient 
brick building, fronted with stone. It contains three^ 
galleries, and one thousand two hundred sittings. Dimen- 
sions outside ninty-nine feet by fifty-six, inside seventy-six 
by forty-seven. There is an organ, and two noble vestry 
rooms attached. The register of the former building being 
lost, the society could not recover damages, but £2000 
w T ere paid by the government towards the new building. 
The Sunday schools attached to this chapel, in conjunction 
with the Old Meeting Sunday schools, have obtained some 
celebrity. They have enabled many persons to raise 
themselves above the sphere into which chance had thrown 
them. The pupils in these schools were the most numerous 
of any in Birmingham till within the last six months. 
Some difference having arisen between the Sunday school 
teachers and the Sunday school committee, a secession 
was the consequence, and the teachers formed a separate 
society and Sunday school, in Cambridge Street. They 
have for the present adopted a system of lay preaching, 
The}' have between three and four hundred boys in the 
school. 



276 HISTORY OF 

Ministers of the Neiv Meeting House. 

1692 Sillitoe - - - 1704 

1705 Thomas Pickard - - - 1747 

1732 Samuel Bourn - - 1754 

1747 Samuel Blyth - 1791 

1754 William Hawkes - - - 1780 

1780 Joseph Priestley, LL.D. F.R.S. &c. - 1791 

1791 John Edwards - - - 1802 

1792 David Jones - - - - s 1795 

1803 John Kentish - 

1804 Joshua Toulmin, D.D. - - 1815 
1817 James Yates, M.A. F.L.S. F.G.S. &c. 1825 
1826 John Reynall Wreford - - 1831 
1832 Samuel Bache - - 

Particular Baptists. 

This order of religionists, in the beginning" of the 
eighteenth century, held forth in a diminutive style, in a 
room opposite Nelson's Monument, the site of the present 
Market Hall. Increasing in numbers and in consequence, 
they afterwards removed their apparatus and themselves to 
a room at the back of No. 38, High Street. The first 
regular meeting-house was founded in Cannon Street, in 
1738, enlarged in 1780, and rebuilt in 1806. Number of 
sittings, one thousand two hundred. The Rev. Thomas 
Sivan, minister. This denomination of Christians has 
gradually risen in consequence, and has now the following 1 
meeting-houses, belonging to the connexion, in the town : 
— Newhall Street, Bond Street, and Mount Zion, Meeting- 
houses. Newhall Street Chapel, situated at the corner of 
Lionel Street, called Zion Chapel, originally belonged to 
the New Jerusalem Church. It is a plain brick building, 
falling back from the line of the street. Minister, J. 
Ham. Number of sittings, six hundred. 



BIRMINGHAM. 277 

Bond Steeet Chapel has a respectable congregation 
under the Rev. Thomas Morgan. Number of sittings, 
about one thousand. 

Mount Zion Chapel was built upon Newhall Hill, in 
1823; fronting Graham Street. It was first occupied 
by the members of the Scotch Church, and opened 
by the celebrated Rev. Edward Irving, March 24, 1824 ; 
he being then, in the height of his popularity, the house 
was crowded to excess. This sect soon after removed to 
another place erected for them, in Newhall Street. The 
Baptists some time after purchased this chapel. It is a 
handsome octagonal structure, with a lofty Doric portico. 
It will contain a congregation of two thousand five hun- 
dred. The interior presents a somewhat novel appearance. 
Attached is an organ, extensive vaults, a burial ground, 
vestries, large school-rooms, dwelling-houses, &c. Minis- 
ter, the Rev. J. Hoby. 

General Baptists. 

This sect has a Small, convenient chapel, in Lombard 
Street. Number of sittings, about five hundred. Minis- 
ter, the Rev. G. Cheatle. 

Independents. 
In 1748, a part of the Old Meeting congregation, who 
had adopted Calvinistic principles, seceded from the 
society, and entered a meeting-house, erected for them 
in Carr's Lane. This afforded accommodation for four 
hundred and fifty hearers, and was removed in 1802, to 
make room for a larger structure, containing eight hundred 
sittings. A rapid increase in the society, made it necessary 
again to enlarge their building, which was carried into 
execution in the latter part of 1819, and beginning of 
1820, and the present structure, capable of holding two 
thousand one hundred persons, with three hundred and 



278 HISTORY OF 

fifty free sittings, was opened for divine service, August, 
1820. It is a heavy, uninteresting pile, viewed without. 
The interior is commodious, and is fitted up in a superior 
style. Minister, the Rev. J. A. James. There are other 
meeting-houses belonging 1 to the connexion ; Livery Street 
and Steelhouse Lane are the principal. Livery Street 
Chapel was originally, an amphitheatre, and afterwards, 
occupied by the Old and New Meeting congregation, 
from 1791 to 1802, and since, by a branch of the 
Carr's Lane Society. Will seat about twt) thousand 
persons. 

Steelhouse Lane Chapel, called Ebenezer, was opened 
December 9, 1818. The first stone was laid June 4, 
1816, by the Rev. Jehoiada Brewer, who was to have 
become the minister of this place, but he died before its 
completion, and is interred in front of the building, where 
a monument is erected to his memory. It is a large brick 
building, and has a plain, but very neat appearance, 
possessing the advantage of standing a considerable 
distance from the street, in a large area. In front is a 
portico, supported by eight Ionic columns. It contains 
one thousand two hundred sittings. Large and com- 
modious school-rooms are attached. The cost about 
£7000. The present minister, the Rev. Timothy East. 

Methodists. 

We learn from ecclesiastical history, that the people in 
high life, are always followers in religion, though they are 
the best leaders in political and social concerns, yet all 
religion seems to originate from the lowest class. Every 
religion is first obstructed by violence, passes through the 
insults of an age, then rests in peace, and often takes up 
the rod against another. 

The first preachers of the Christian faith, the short- 
sighted apostles, were men of the meanest occupations, 



BIRMINGHAM. 279 

and their church, a wretched room in a miserable tene- 
ment. The superb buildings of St. Peter's in Rome, and 
St. Paul's in London, used by their followers, were not 
within the reach of their penetration. They were also 
totally ignorant of triple crowns, red hats, mitres, crosiers, 
robes, and rochets, the idols of their successors. The 
religion of a private room, soon became the religion 
of a country ; the church acquired affluence, for all 
churches hate poverty ; and this humble church, disturbed 
for ages, became the church of Rome, the disturber of 
Europe. 

John Wickliff, in 1377, began to renew her disturbance. 
This able theologist planted our present national church, 
which underwent severe persecutions from its mother 
church at Rome ; but, rising superior to the rod, and ad- 
vancing to maturity, she became the mother of a numerous 
offspring, which she afterwards persecuted herself; and this 
offspring, like their mother, were much inclined to perse- 
cution. 

Puritanism, her firstborn, groaned under the pressure 
of her hand. The Baptists, founded by a tailor, 
followed, and were buffetted by both. — Independency 
appeared, ponderous as an elephant, and trampled upon all 
three. * 

George Fox, a composition of the oddest matter, and of 
the meanest origin, formed a numerous band of disciples, 
who suffered the insults of an age, but have carried the arts 
of prudence to the highest pitch. 

The Muggletonians, the Prophets, the Superlapsarians, 
&c. like untimely births, just saw the light and disap- 
peared. 

The Moravians, under the influence of Zinzendorf, rose 
about 1740, but are not in a flourishing state ; their cir- 
cumscribed rules, like those of the cloister, being too much 
shackled to thrive in a land of freedom. 



280 HISTORY OF 

James Sandiman introduced a religion, about 1750, but 
though eclipsed himself by poverty, he taught his preachers 
to shine ; for he allowed • them to grace the pulpit with 
ruffles, lace, and a queue. Birmingham cannot produce 
one professor of the two last churches. 

The Christian religion has branched into more sectaries 
in the last three hundred years, than in the fifteen hundred 
before — the reason is obvious. Before the introduction of 
letters, knowledge, was small; but the printing-press 
though dark in itself, and surrounded with yet darker 
materials, diffused a ray of light through the world, which 
enabled every man to read, think, and judge for himself; 
hence diversity of opinion, and the absurdity of reducing a 
nation to one faith, vainly attempted by Henry the VIII., 
and again by Charles the II. 

The artillery of vengeance was pointed at Methodism 
for thirty years ; but, fixed as a rock, it could never be 
beaten down, and its professors now enjoy their sentiments 
in quiet. After the institution of this sect by George 
Whitfield, in 1738, they were first covered by the heavens 
equally exposed to the rain and the rabble ; and afterwards 
they occupied, for manyy^ears, a place in Steelhouse Lane, 
where the wags of the age observed, " they were eat out 
by the bugs." They therefore procured a cast off theatre 
in Moor Street, where they continued to exhibit till 1 782 ; 
when quitting the stage, they erected a superb meeting- 
house in Cherry Street, at the expense of £1200. This was 
opened, July 7, by John Wesley, the chief priest, whose 
extensive knowledge and unblemished manners, give us a 
tolerable picture of apostolic purity, who believed, as if he 
were to be saved by faith, and who laboured, as if he were 
to be saved by works. This building was removed in 1823, 
to make room for the present enlarged edifice, which will 
accommodate about two thousand persons. The ministers 
are changed about every three years. 



BIRMINGHAM. 281 

Thus our composite order of religion, an assemblage of 
the Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, the Independent, and 
the Baptist, fled from the buffetings of the vulgar, and now 
take peaceable shelter from the dews of heaven. 

There are now several other meeting-houses belonging 
to this sect of Christians. Belmont Row, Bradford Street, 
Islington, Constitution Hill, and a variety of minor chapels 
under various titles, Neio Connexion, Primitive Methodists, 
Revivalists, &c, &c. differing slightly from the original sect. 

The New Jerusalem Church. 

" The Members of the New Church signified by the 
Jerusalem in the Revelation," are receivers of the theo- 
logical doctrines made known to the world through the 
instrumentality of the Hon. E. Swedenberg ; a Swedish 
nobleman of the most unquestionable piety, and unim- 
peachable veracity, and who was well known to the world 
for his profound attainments in philosophy and science. 
A society, in connexion with this increasing body of 
Christians, was first established in Birmingham about forty- 
five years ago. In the year 1791 the place of worship, now 
known by the name of Zion Chapel, Newhall Street, 
Lionel Street, was erected by them, but owing unfortu- 
nately, to its never having been vested in local trustees, 
for the benefit of the society, it -was sold, and the proceeds 
applied as the private property of a bankrupt. With an 
exception of about two years, when the majority of the 
members removed to Paradise Street Chapel, this society 
continued to worship till the year 1&30, in a temporary 
Chapel in Newhall street, known by the name of the 
New Jerusalem Temple, but which was scarcely distin- 
guishable as a chapel, in its exterior, having being erected 
with a view of being altered to two dwelling-houses, when- 
ever the society might remove. Shortly after the acces- 
sion of their present minister, who succeeded the Rev. J. 

2 o 



282 



HISTORY OF 



Proud, they rapidly increased in numbers, and have erected 
for themselves a handsome and commmodious structure in 
Summer Lane, which is designated the New Jerusalem 
Church. 

The plan of this church is singularly contrived, having 
beneath it several private dwellings and a school room, 
without sacrificing either the convenience or uniformity of 
the building. The entrance is by a flight of steps, sur- 
mounted by a portico, supported by four Ionic co- 
lumns. The pews are calculated to seat about six 
hundred hearers. The galleries are spacious, but there 
are no seats under them, that part being walled off as 
the upper story of the houses underneath. The centre 
of the roof is arched from end to end, and in the 
orchestra at the back of the pulpit is placed a small well- 
toned organ. The church is lighted by eight lofty windows, 
and is fitted up with great neatness. In worship they use 
a liturgical service. Their present minister is the Rev. 
E. Madeley. In the year 1833 this society erected a large 
Free Day School, on the same premises, which at present 
is supported by voluntary contributions, and a trifling pay- 
ment from the scholars, aided by an annual grant from the 
General Conference of the New Church — The number of 
scholars nearly two hundred, who are daily instructed by 
the resident minister. The Sunday school belonging to 
this church contains about one hundred and fifty boys and 
girls. 

Lady Huntingdon's Connexion. 

There is a meeting-house in King Street occupied by 
this sect, opened in 1787, it is a cast off theatre, but 
answers the present purpose quite as well as the former. 
Number of sittings, one thousand five hundred. Minister, 
the Rev. John Jones. 

The Antinomians have a meeting-house in Bartholomew 
Street. 



BIRMINGHAM. 283 

The Scottish Church, occupy a small place of worship in 
Broad Street, just erected. 

The meeting-house, lately occupied by the Scottish 
church, now called St. Jude's, has a respectable society of 
the Established Church, but support their church and 
minister by voluntary subscriptions. They use the church 
liturgy with some alteration. Minister, the Rev. J. Abbott, 
There is accommodation for about eight hundred. 

Quaker's Meeting, in Bull Street. 

A large convenient place, and notwithstanding the plain- 
ness of the profession, rather elegant. The congregation 
is very nourishing, rich, and peaceable. Chandler tells us, 
to the everlasting honour of the Quakers, that they are 
the only Christian sect who have never exercised the cruel 
weapon of persecution. 

An author may assert a fact without the least hazard to 
his reputation : the behaviour of the Quakers approaches 
the nearest to perfection of any religious society upon earth. 
A spacious cemetery is situated at the back, completely 
obscured from view by buildings, there is also a smaller 
one in Monmouth Street. George Fox, a man of humble 
birth, of great talent, and greater perseverance, born in 
1624, was the founder of this sect, about 1646. The Non- 
conformist resisted the compulsory demands of uniformity 
of creed and ceremony ; George Fox denounced all re- 
ligious establishments, and claimed freedom for all, — one 
law for all, — for every man or woman in every situation, 
character, and aspect. I find the Friends established at 
Chadwickand Stourbridge in 1655, but the earliest record of 
them in Birmingham is 1682, though in all probability they 
had existed as a society much earlier. They were persecuted 
with the greatest rigour, until the act of toleration in 1689. 
Thousands were imprisoned, and their property to a large 
amount confiscated. They support their own poor. They 



284 HISTORY OF 

always suffer all ecclesiastic, war, or any unjust tax to be 
taken by distraint. They are not likely to multiply 
very considerably, their tenets being rather calculated to 
exclude all but their descendants. They have no priest 
or paid teacher of religious doctrines, and their respectable 
and general peaceable conduct, shews that paid ministers 
may be dispensed with. 

Jewish Synagogue. 

We have also among us a remnant of Israel. A people 
who, when masters of their own country, were scarcely 
ever known to travel, and who are now seldom employed 
in anything else. But, though they are ever moving they 
are ever at home ; and once lived the favourites of heaven, 
and fed upon the cream of the earth ; but now are little 
regarded by either ; whose society is entirely confined to 
themselves, except in the commercial line. 

The Synagogue, originally situated in the Froggery, 
but removed to Severn Street, about 1807. The first build- 
ing was taken down to make room for the present large 
and commodious structure in 1827. They have two places 
for burial, one near the Worcester Canal, the other at 
Islington, near Bath Row. The number of resident Jews 
is small, but there are always a considerable number who 
visit us like birds of passage, in the way of trade. 

Roman Catholic Chapels. 

There are two chapels for the followers of Catholicism 
in Birmingham. St. Peter's erected in 1789, a neat plain 
brick building, situated near Broad Street. It contains a 
beautifully painted altar-piece, and a very fine toned 
organ. Priest, Rev. T. M. McDonnell. The other erected 
in Shadwell Street, in 1813, a smaller but neat and con- 
venient structure, this class * of Christians is now rather 




THEATRE ROYAL, BIRMINGHAM. 



BIRMINGHAM. 285 

numerous and highly respectable. Priest of St. Chad's, 
Rev. E. Peach. 

They formerly enjoyed a place for religious worship, near 
St. Bartholomew's Chapel, still called Masshouse Lane ; 
but the rude hands of irreligion destroyed it in 1688. 
There was none nearer than Edgbaston, two miles distant, 
till the chapel was erected at Easy Hill. 

Theatres. 

The practice of the Theatre is of great antiquity. We 
find it in repute among the Greeks ; we also find, the 
more nations are civilized, the more they have supported 
the stage. It seems designed for two purposes, improve- 
ment and entertainment. There are certain exuberances 
that naturally grow in religion, government, and private 
life, which may with propriety be attacked by the poet and 
the comedian, but which can scarcely be reduced by any 
other power. Whilst the stage keeps this great end in 
view, it answers a valuable purpose to the community. 
The pen of the poet is to reform, not to indulge a corrupt 
age, as was the case in the days of Charles the II., when 
indecency was brought on to raise a laugh. 

Tragedy is to melt the heart, by exhibiting the unfortu- 
nate ; satiate revenge, by punishing the unjust tyrant ; to 
discard vice, and to keep undue passion within bounds. 

Comedy holds up folly in a ridiculous light ; whatever 
conduct or character is found in the regions of absurdity, 
furnishes proper materials for the stage ; and oat of these, 
the pen of a master will draw many useful lessons. — The 
pulpit and the stage have nearly the same use, but not in 
the same line — that of improving the man. 

The English stage opened about the conquest, and was 
wholly confined to religion ; in whose service it continued, 
with very little intermission, to the extinction of the 
Plantagenets. The playhouses were the churches, the 



286 HISTORY OF 

principal actors, the priests, and the performances taken 
from Scripture ; such as the Fall of Man, the Story of 
Joseph, Sampson, Histories of the Saints, the Sufferings 
of Christ, Resurrection, Day of Judgment, &c. 

Theatrical exhibition in Birmingham, is rather of a 
modern date. As far as memory can penetrate, the stroller 
occupied, occasionally, a shed of boards in the fields, now 
Temple Street : here he acted the part of distress, in a 
double capacity. The situation was afterwards changed, 
but not the eminence, and the Hinkleys dignified the per- 
formers' booth. 

In about 1730, the amusements of the stage rose in a 
superior style of elegance, and entered something like a 
stable in Castle Street. Here the comedian strutted in 
painted rags, ornamented with tinsel. The audience raised 
a noisy laugh, half real and half forced, at threepence a 
head. 

Jn about 1740, a theatre was erected in Moor Street, 
which rather gave a spring to the amusement ; in the day 
time, the comedian beat up for volunteers for the night, 
delivered his bills of fare, and roared out an encomium on 
the excellence of the entertainment, which had not always 
the desired effect. 

In 1751, a company arrived, who announced themselves, 
" His Majesty's Servants, from the Theatres Royal, in 
London ; and hoped the public would excuse the ceremony 
of the drum, as beneath the dignity of a London company." 
The novelty had a surprising effect ; the performers had 
merit, the house was continually crowded, the general con- 
versation turned upon theatrical exhibition, and the town 
was converted into one vast theatre. 

In 1752, it was found necessary to erect a larger theatre, 
that in King Street, and we multiplied into two London 
companies. The pulpits took the alarm, and in turn, 
roared after their customers ; but the pious teachers forgot 



BIRMINGHAM. 287 

it was only the fervour of a day, which would cool of 
itself; that the fiercer the fire burns, the sooner it will 
burn out. This declaration of war fortunately happening 
at the latter end of summer, the campaign was over, and 
the company retreated into winter quarters without hostili- 
ties. It was afterwards found, that two theatres were 
more than the town choose to support, therefore that in 
Moor Street was set for a Methodist Meeting House. 

In 1774, the theatre in King Street was enlarged, 
beautified, and made more convenient ; so that it had few 
equals. About the same time that in New Street was 
erected upon a suitable spot, at an expense of £5660, an 
extensive plan, and richly ornamented paintings and 
scenery. An additional and superb portico,' was erected 
in 1780, which perhaps may cause it to be pronounced 
" One of the first theatres in Europe." Two busts, in 
relief, of excellent workmanship, are elevated over the 
attic windows ; one is the father, and the other the iefiner 
of the British stage — Shakspeare and Garrick. 

August 7, 1792, this structure was destroyed by fire; 
how the fire originated has never been clearly ascertained, 
it was generally supposed to be the work of an incendiary, 
but if so the miscreant was never discovered. The proba- 
bility is, that happening- so soon after the riots, this sup- 
position was circulated without any foundation. 

Some of the buildings adjacent were purchased by the 
proprietors, and an enlarged structure erected upon its 
site, at the expense of £14000. On January 6, 1820, this 
building like the former, fell a prey to the devouring 
element, supposed to be by accident after the play of 
Pizarro. 

The present theatre, which can scarcely be equalled out 
of London, either for accommodation or elegance, like the 
phoenix, out of its own ashes, sprung up in the short space 
of seven months, and was opened to the public, August 14, 



288 HISTORY OF 

following. It is brilliantly lighted with gas, and will con- 
tain more than two thousand persons, and at the usual 
rates of admission will produce about £260. The premises 
attached was for some time occupied as a tavern, under 
the title of the Shakspeare, for which they were intended, 
but have long been discontinued for that purpose, and are 
now occasionally let to conjurors or exhibiters of any raree 
shows, for which these rooms are well adapted. One 
portion is regularly occupied as a billiard room. The 
decline of the drama has been much felt in Birmingham 
for many years, and I believe the management has been 
anything but profitable. I may perhaps here remark, that 
though the Theatre was twice burnt, the front on each 
occasion remained uninjured. 

Amusements. 

Man seems formed for variety, whether we view him in 
a rational or an animal light. A sameness of temper, habit, 
diet, pursuit, or pleasure, is no part of his character. The 
difierent ages of his life, also produce different sentiments ; 
that which gives us the highest relish in one period, is 
totally flat in another. The bauble that pleases at three, 
would be cast into the fire at threescore ; the same hand 
that empties the purse at twenty, would fill it at fifty ; in 
age, he bends his knee to the same religion which he 
laughed at in youth ; the prayer-book, that holds the at- 
tention of seventy, holds the lottery pictures of seven ; and 
the amorous tale that awakes the ideas of twenty-five, lulls 
old age to sleep. Not only life is productive of change, 
but every day in it. If a man would take a minute survey 
of his thoughts and employments, for only twenty-four 
hours, he would be astonished at their infinite variety. 

The pleasures of the field claim their votaries ; but in a 
populous country like that of Birmingham, plenty of game 
is not to be expected ; for want of wild fowl, therefore, the 



BIRMINGHAM. 289 

shooter has been known to attack the tame. However, the 
farmer need not be under any great concern for his property ; 
the sportsman seldom does any thing with his arms — but — - 
carry them. We are more famous for making than using 
the gun. 

A pack of hounds have sometimes been kept by sub- 
scription termed, the Birmingham Hunt; but, as the 
sound of the dog's and the anvil never harmonized together, 
they have been long in disuse. The jocund tribe therefore, 
having no scent of their own, fall into that of the neighbour- 
ing gentry, many of whom support a pack. 

The man of reflection finds amusement in domestic re- 
sources ; and, in his own mind, if unoppressed. Here the 
treasures collected from men, books, and observation, are 
laid up for many years, from which he draws pleasure, 
without diminishing the stock. For the entertainment of 
the public, there are many public gardens with bowling 
greens and quoit grounds attached. The Cross at Aston 
Vauxhall, and the Plough and Harrow, Edgbaston, may 
be mentioned among the number. 

Party excursion is held in considerable esteem, in which 
are included Enville, the seat of Lord Stamford ; Hagley, 
that of the late Lord Lyttelton ; the Leasowes, the property 
of the late William Shenstone, Esq; and the ruins of 
Dudley and Kenilworth Castles. We will omit the 
journey to London, a tour which some of us have made 
all our lives without seeing it. 

Cards and the visit are linked together, nor is the 
billiard table totally forsaken. One man amuses himself 
in amassing a fortune, and another in dissolving one. 

About thirty-six of the inhabitants keep carriages for 
their own private use ; and near fifty have country houses. 
The relaxations of the mechanic are, news, cards, domi- 
noes, bagatelle, and ale, in winter ; skittles, quoits, ball-, 
marbles, or cricket, in summer. The free and easy, 

2 p 



290 HISTORY OF 

where the buck sports his cash, or his consequence, his 
music, or his mimicry, is the resort of many ; whilst others 
attend to pugilism, cock battles, dogfights, duck hunting, 
bear, badger, or bull baiting, according to taste, inclina- 
tion, or education. Reading now forms the amusement 
of many, as will be evident, by the vast number of publi- 
cations distributed in Birmigham, which, I think, does 
not fall far short of one hundred thousand per month, 
not exceeding the value of two shillings each, but three- 
fourths of the number, not exceeding twopence each. 

Health and amusement are found in the prodigious 
number of private gardens, scattered round Birmingham, 
from which we often behold the father returning with a 
cabbage, and the daughter with a nosegay. 

Hotel. 

The spot where our great-grandmothers smiled in the 
lively dance, when they possessed the flower of beauty in 
the spring of life, is lost in forgetfulness. The floor that 
trembled under that foot which was covered with a leather 
shoe, tied with a silken string, and which supported a 
stocking of dark blue worsted, not of the finest texture, is 
now buried in oblivion. 

In 1750, we had two assembly rooms ; one at No. 11, 
in the Square ; the other No. 85, in Bull Street. This 
last was not much in use afterwards. That in the Square 
continued in repute till in the course of that evening which 
happened in October, 1765, when Edward, Duke of York, 
had the honour of leading down the dance, and the ladies 
of Birmingham enjoyed that of the Duke's hand. He 
remarked, " that a town of such magnitude as Birming- 
ham, and adorned with so much beauty, deserved a supe- 
rior accommodation; that the room itself was mean, 
but the entrance meaner." Truth is ever the same, 
whether it comes from a prince or a peasant; but its 



BIRMINGHAM. 291 

effects are not. Whether some secret charm attended the 
duke's expression, that blasted the room, is uncertain, but 
it never after held its former eminence. 

In 1772, a building was erected by subscription, upon 
the tontine principle, at the head of Temple Row, and 
was dignified with the French name of hotel, and since 
called the Royal Hotel. From a handsome entrance the 
ladies are now led through a spacious saloon, at the ex- 
tremity of which the eye is struck with a grand flight of 
steps, opening into an assembly room, which would not 
disgrace even the royal presence of the duke's brother. 

The pile itself is large, plain, and elegant, but standing 
in the same line with the other buildings, which before 
were really genteel, eclipses them by its superiority ; 
vhereas, if the hotel had fallen a few feet back, it would, 
by breaking the line, have preserved the beauty of the 
row, without losing its own. 

The original subscription concerts, held at this hotel, 
have been established more than thirty years, and are 
attended and supported by all the leading families in the 
town. There are three or four concerts each year, at 
which much talent is displayed. There are other con- 
certs held here, under the superintendence of the Har- 
monic Society, and occasional concerts by musical pro- 
fessors of talent. 

In addition to a splendid building, erected in New 
Street, a few years ago, under the title of New Royal 
Hotel, there are six other houses that have adopted the 
modern appellation of hotel ; the Hen and Chickens, the 
Swan, the Nelson, originally the Dog, the Castle, High 
Street, the Albion, and the Stork, Old Square. These, 
besides affording general accommodation for travellers, are 
general coach offices, and posting houses. There are, 
however, several other inns that supply the gentlemen of 
the road with first-rate fare, both for themselves and 



292 HISTORY OF 

horses ; the Union Inn, Union Street ; the Saracen' '$ 
Head, Bull Street ; the George, and the White Hart, 
Digbeth ; the Woolpack, Moor Street ; and the King's 
Head, Worcester Street, are among the most respect- 
able. 

Wakes. 

This ancient custom was left us by the Saxons. Time,, 
that makes alteration only in other customs, has totally 
inverted this. 

"When a church was erected, it was immediately called 
after a saint, put under his protection, and the day belong- 
ing to that saint kept in the church as a high festival. In 
the evening preceding, the inhabitants, with lights, ap- 
proached the church, and kept a continual devotion during 
the whole night ; hence the name, wake. After which 
they entered into festivity. But now the devotional part 
is forgot, the church is deserted, and the festivity turned 
into riot, drunkenness, and mischief. 

Without searching into the mouldy records of time, for 
evidence to support our assertion, we may safely pronounce 
the wake the lowest of all low amusements, and com- 
pletely suited to the lowest of tempers. 

Wakes have been deemed a public concern, and the 
legislature has been obliged to interpose for the sake of 
that order which private conduct could never boast. In 
the reign of Henry the VI., every consideration, whether 
of a public or a private nature, gave way to the wake. 
The harvest in particular was neglected. An order there- 
fore issued, confining the wakes to the first Sunday in 
October, consequently the whole nation run mad at once. 

Wakes in Birmingham- are not ancient. Why, St. 
Martin's then the only church, was neglected, is uncer- 
tain. Although we have no wakes for the town, there 
are three kept in its borders, called Deritend, Chapel, 



BIRMINGHAM. 293 

and Bell Wakes. The two first are in the spring of ex- 
istence, the last in the falling leaf of autumn. 

Deritend Wake probably took its rise at the erection of 
her chapel, in 1383. Chapel Wake, in 1750, from St. 
Bartholomew's Chapel, is held in the meridian of Coles- 
hill Street ; was hatched and fostered by the publicans, 
for the benefit of the spig-got. Among other amusements, 
was that of bull-baiting, till the year 1773, when the com- 
missioners of lamps, in the amendment of their act, wisely 
broke the chain, and procured a reprieve for the unfortu- 
nate animal. Another was the horse-race, but a few 
years ago a person being killed, rather slackened the en- 
tertainment. What singular genius introduced the horse- 
race into a crowded street, I am yet to learn. In the 
evening the passenger cannot proceed without danger ; in 
the morning, he may discover which houses are public, 
without any other intelligence than the copious streams 
that have issued from the wall. The blind may distiguish 
the same thing, by the strong scent of the tap. 

Bell Wake is the junior by one year, originating from 
the same cause, in 1751, in consequence of ten bells being 
hung up in St. Philip's steeple. — Till within these few years, 
we were at this wake, struck with a singular exhibition, 
that of a number of boys running a race through the 
streets naked. Some of the inhabitants seeing so fair a 
mark for chastisement, applied the rod with success, put a 
period to the sport, and obliged the young runners to run 
under cover. 

Clubs. 
It may be expected, from the title of this chapter, that 
I shall introduce a set of ruffians, armed with massive 
weapons ; or, having named a trump, a set of gamblers 
shuffling and dealing out the cards. But whatever 
veneration I may entertain for these two fag ends of our 



294 



HISTORY OF 



species, I shall certainly introduce a class of people, which, 
though of the lower orders, are preferable to both. 

Social compact is a distinguishing mark of civilization. 
The whole British empire may be justly considered as one 
grand alliance, united for public and private interest, and 
this vast body of people are subdivided into an infinity of 
of smaller fraternities, for individual benefit. 

Perhaps there are hundreds of these societies in Bir- 
mingham, under the name of clubs ; some of them boast 
the antiquity of a century, and by prudent direction 
have acquired a capital, at accumulating interest. Thou- 
sands of the inhabitants are connected, nay, to be other- 
wise is rather unfashionable, and some are people of 
sentiment and property. There are now upwards of four 
hundred benefit societies in Birmingham, containing about 
forty thousand members. The payments, in case of sick- 
ness, for adult members, are from six to fourteen shillings 
per week, and the disbursements are supposed to amount 
to £200 per week. 

A variety of purposes are intended by these laudable 
institutions ; but the principal one, is that of supporting 
the sick. Each society is governed by a code of laws of 
its^ own making, which have at least the honour of re- 
sembling those of legislature, for words without sense are 
found in both, and we sometimes stumble upon contra- 
diction. 

The poor's rates, enormous as they appear, are softened 
by these brotherly aids ; they tend also to keep the mind 
at rest, for a man will enjoy the day of health, with 
double relish, when he considers he has a treasure laid 
up for that of sickness. If a member only of a poor 
family be sick, the head still remains to procure neces- 
saries ; but if that head be disordered, the whole source of 
supply is dried up, which evinces the utility of such insti- 
tutions. 



BIRMINGHAM. 295 

The general custom is to meet at a public house, every 
fortnight, spend a trifle, and each contribute sixpence, or 
any stated sum, to the common stock. The landlord is 
always treasurer, or father, and is assisted by two stewards, 
annually or monthly chosen. 

As honour and low life are not always found together, 
we sometimes see a man who is rather idle, wish the 
society may suppose him sick, that he may rob them with 
more security. Or, if a member hangs long upon the 
box, his brethren seek a pretence to expel him. On 
the other hand, we frequently observe a man silently re- 
treat from the club, if another falls upon the box, and 
fondly suppose himself no longer a member ; or if the box 
be loaded with sickness, the whole club has been known 
to dissolve, that they may rid themselves of the burthen ; 
but the Court of Requests finds an easy remedy for these 
evils, and at a trifling expense. 

The charity of the club is also extended beyond the 
grave, and terminates with a present to the widow. 

The philosophers " tell us, "There is no good without 
its kindred evil." This amiable body of men, marshalled 
to expel disease, has one small alley, and perhaps but 
one. As liquor and labour are inseparable, the impru- 
dent member is apt to forget to quit the club room, when 
he has spent his necessary twopence, but continues there 
to the injury of his family. 

Another of these institutions is the rent club, where, 
from the weekly sums deposited by the members, a sop is 
regularly served up twice a year, to prevent the growlings 
of a landlord. 

In the breeches club every member ballots for a 
pair, value a guinea, promised of more value by the maker. 
This club dissolves when all the members are served. 

The intentions of the book club are well known, to 
catch the productions of the press as they rise. 



296 HISTORY OP 

The watch club has generally a watchmaker for its 
president, is composed of young men, and is always tem- 
porary. 

If a tailor be short of employment, he has only to con- 
sult a landlord over a bottle, who, by their joint powers, 
can give birth to a clothes club ; where every member is 
supplied with a suit to his taste, of a stipulated price. 
These are chiefly composed of bachelors, who wish to 
shine in the eye of the fair. 

Thus a bricklayer stands at the head of the building 
club, where every member perhaps subscribes two guineas 
per month, and each house, value about one hundred 
pounds, is balloted for as soon as erected. As a house is a 
weighty concern, every member is obliged to produce two 
bondsmen for the performance of covenants. 

I will venture to produce another, the capital club, for 
when the contributions amount to £50, the members bal- 
lot for this capital, to bring into business : here also secu- 
rities are necessary. It is easy to conceive the two last 
clubs are extremely beneficial to building and to com- 
merce. 

There are several hundreds of money clubs, for sums of 
£5, £10, £20, £25, £50, £80, and £100 ; various sums are 
contributed weekly, fortnightly, or monthly, acording to 
agreement. The shares are generally sold to the best 
bidder, and interest paid from two and a half to five per 
cent, by the purchasers, to the end of the club. Bonds are 
of course required for the repayment of the money. The 
cash thus collected, and thus disposed of, must amount to 
a very large sum, not less than £100,000 per aunum. 

The last I shall enumerate is the clock club. When the 
weekly deposits of the members amount to about £4, they 
cast lots who shall be first served with a clock of that 
value, and continue the same method till the whole club is 
supplied ; after which, the clockmaker and landlord cast 



BIRMINGHAM. 297 

about for another set, who are chiefly composed of young 
housekeepers. Hence the beginner ornaments his premises 
with furniture, the artist finds employment and profit, and 
the publican empties his barrel. 

Thus we have taken a transient survey of this rising- 
colony of arts, uniting observation with fact. We have 
seen her dark manufactures, in darker times; we have 
attended her through her commercial, religious, political, 
and pleasurable walks : have viewed her in many points of 
light, but once only in decline, till we have now set her in 
the fair sunshine of the present day. 

Perhaps I shall not be charged with prolixity, that un- 
pardonable sin against the reader, when it is considered, 
that three thousand years are deposited in the compass of 
two hundred and twelve little pages. 

Some other circumstances deserve attention, which 
could not be introduced without breaking the thread of 
history ; but as that thread is now drawn to an end, I 
must, before I resume it, step back into the recesses of 
time, and slumber through the long ages of seventeen 
hundred years ; if the active reader, therefore, has no incli- 
nation for a nod of that length, or, in simple phrase, no relish 
for antiquity, I advise him to pass over the five ensuing 
chapters. 

Ikenield Street. 

About five furlongs north of the Navigation Bridge, in 
Great Charles Street, which is (1791) the boundary of 
the present buildings, runs the Ikenield Street, one o. 
those famous pretorian roads which mark the Romans with 
conquest, and the Britons with slavery. 

By that time a century had elapsed, from the first 
landing of Ceesar in Britain, the victorious Romans had 
carried their arms through the southern part of the isle. 

2 Q 



298 HISTORY OF 

They therefore endeavoured to secure the conquered pro- 
vinces by opening four roads, which should each rise in the 
shore, communicate with, and cross each other, form dif- 
ferent angles, extend over the island several ways, and 
terminate in the opposite sea. 

These are the Watling Street, which rises near Dover, 
and running north-west through London, Atherstone, and 
Shropshire, in the neighbourhood of Chester, ends in the 
Irish Sea. 

The Foss begins in Devonshire, extends north-east 
through Leicestershire, continuing its course through 
Lincolnshire, to the verge of the German Ocean. 

These two roads, crossing each other at right angles, 
form a figure resembling the letter X, whose centre is the 
High Cross, which divides the counties of Warwick and 
Leicester. 

The Ermine Street extends along the southern part of 
the island, near the British channel ; and the 

Ikenield Street, which I cannot so soon quit, rises near 
Southampton, extends nearly north, through Winchester, 
Wallingford, and over the Tsis, at New Bridge ; thence to 
Burford, crossing the Foss at Stow-in-the-Woulds, over 
Bitford Bridge, in the county of Warwick, to Alcester ; by 
Studley, Ipsley, Beely, Wetherick Hill, Studley Street ; 
crosses the road from Birmingham to Broomsgrove, at 
Selley Oak, leaving Harborne a mile to the left, also the 
Hales Owen road a mile west of Birmingham : thence by 
the observatory, in Lady Wood Lane, where it enters the 
parish of Birmingham, crossing the Dudley road at the 
Sand-pits ; along Worstone Lane, through the little pool, 
and Hockley -brook, where it quits the parish : thence over 
Handsworth Heath, entering a little lane on the right of 
Bristle-lands-end, and over the river Tame, at Oxford- 
house, (Oldford,) directly to Sutton Coldfield. It passes 
the Ridgway one hundred and twenty-six yards east of 



BIRMINGHAM. 



299 



King's Standing, a little artificial mount, on which Charles 
the I. is said to have stood when he harangued the troops 
he brought out of Shropshire, at the opening of the civil 
wars in 1642. From thence the road proceeds through 
Sutton Park and the remainder of the Coldfield ; over 
Raclley Moor, from thence to Wall, a Roman station, where 
it meets the Watling Street ; leaving Lichfield a mile to 
the left, it leads through Street Hay ; over Fradley Heath ; 
thence through Alderwashays, crossing the river Trent, at 
Wichnor Bridge, to Branson Turnpike ; over Branson 
Moor, where for about two hundred yards it is yet visible 
— here it appears noble in its ancient Roman dress, though 
in tatters ; then over Burton Moor, leaving the town half 
a mile to the right : thence to Monk's Bridge, upon the 
river Dove ; along Egington Heath, Little Over, the Rue 
Dyches, Stepping Lane, Nun Green, and Darley Slade, 
to the river Derwent, one mile above Derby upon the 
eastern banks of which stands Little Chester, built by the 
Romans. 

If the traveller is tired with this tedious journey and dull 
description, which admits of no variety, we will stop for a 
moment, and refresh in this Roman city. 

In drawing the flukes of his oar along the bed of the 
river, as he boats over it, he may feel the f©undations of a 
Roman bridge, nearly level with its bottom. Joining the 
water are the vestiges of a castle, now an orchard. Roman 
coins are frequently discovered ; — in 1765, 1 was presented 
with one of Vespasian's, found the year before in scouring 
a ditch ; but I am sorry to observe, it has suffered more 
during the fifteen years in my possession, than during the 
fifteen hundred it lay in the earth. 

The inhabitants being in want of materials to form a 
turnpike road, attempted to pull up this renowned military 
way, for the sake of those materials, but found them 
too strongly cemented to admit of an easy separation, 



300 HISTORY or 

and therefore desisted when they had taken up a few 
loads. 

I saw the section of this road cut up from the bottom : 
the Romans seem to have formed it with infinite labour 
and expense. They took out the soil for about twenty 
yards wide and one deep, perhaps till they came to a firm 
bottom, and filled up the whole with stones of all sizes, 
brought from Duffield, four miles up the river, cemented 
with coarse mortar. 

The road here is only discoverable by its barren track 
along the cultivated meadows. It then proceeds over 
Morley Moor, through Scarsdale, by Chesterfield, Balsover, 
through Yorkshire, Northumberland, and terminates upon 
the banks of the Tyne, near Tinmouth. 

There are many roads in England formed by the 
Romans ; they were of two kinds, the military, which 
crossed the island ; and the smaller, which extended 
from one town to another. The four I have mentioned 
come under the first class ; they rather avoided, than 
led through a town, that they might not be injured by 
traffic. 

Two of these four, the Watling Street, and the Ikenield 
Street, are thought, by their names, to be British, and 
with some reason : neither of the words are derived from 
the Latin : but whatever were their origin, they are cer- 
tainly of Roman construction. 

These great roads were begun as soon as the island was 
subdued, to employ the military, and awe the natives, 
and were divided into stages ; at the end of each 
was a fort, or station, to accommodate the guard, for 
the reception of stores, the conveniency of marching 
parties, and to prevent the soldiers from mixing with the 
Britons. 

The stations upon the Ikenield Street, in our neigh- 
bourhood, are Little Chester (Derventione) a square fort, 



BIRMINGHAM. 301 

nearly half an acre ; joining the road to the north, and the 
Derwent to the west. 

The next is Burton upon Trent (Ad Trivonam) thirteen 
miles south. Here I find no remains of a station. 

Then Wall (Etocetum) near Lichfield, which I have 
examined with great labour, or rather with great pleasure. 
Here the two famous consular roads cross each other. 
We should expect a fort in the angle, commanding hoth, 
which is not the case. The Watling Street is lost for 
about half a mile, leading over a morass, only the line 
is faintly preserved by a blind path over the inclosures: 
the Ikenield Street crosses it in this morass, not the least- 
traces of which remain. But, by a strict attention, I could 
point out their junction to a few yards. 

Six furlongs west of this junction, and one hundred yards 
north of the Watling- Street, in a close, now about three 
acres, are the remains of the Roman fortress. This build- 
ing, of strength and terror, is reduced to one piece of thick 
wall, visibly of Roman workmanship, from whence the 
place derives its modern name. 

Can you, says I, to a senior peasant, for I love to appeal 
to old age, tell the origin of that building ? 

li No; but we suppose it has been a church. The ruins 
were much larger in my memory; but they were lately 
destroyed, to bring the land into that improved state of 
cultivation in which you see it." And so you reduced a 
fortress in four years, which the Britons never could in four 
hundred. For a trifling profit, you erase the work of the 
ancients, and prevent the wonder of the moderns. Are 
you apprised of any old walls under the surface ? 

"Yes, the close is full of them ; I have broke three ploughs 
in one day ; no tool will stand against them. It has been 
more expensive to bring- the land into its present condition, 
than the freehold is worth." Why, you seem more willing 
to destroy, than your tools : and more able than time. 



302 HISTORY OF 

The works which were the admiration of ages you bury 
under ground. What the traveller comes many miles to 
see, you assiduously hide. 

What could be the meaning that the Romans erected 
their station on the declivity of this hill,, when the summit, 
two hundred yards distant, is much more eligible ; are 
there no foundations upon it? fi None." 

The commandry is preferable : the Watling Street runs by 
it, and it is nearer the Ikenield Street. Pray, are you ac- 
quainted with another Roman road which crosses it? "No." 

Do you know any close about the village, where a narrow 
bed of gravel, which runs a considerable length, has im- 
peded the plough ? 

" Yes, there is a place half a mile distant, where, 
when a child, I drove the plough ; we penetrated a land 
of gravel, and my companion's grandfather told us it 
had been an old road." That is the place I want, lead me 
to it. Being already master of both ends of the road, like 
a broken line, with the centre worn out, the gravel bed 
enabled me to recover it. 

The next station upon the Ikenield Street is Birming- 
ham (Bremenium) I have examined this country with care ; 
but find no vestiges of a station : nor shall we wonder, 
desolation is the preserver of antiquity, nothing of which 
reigns here ; the most likely place is Wor-ston (Wall- 
stone) which a younger brother of Birmingham might 
afterwards convert into the fashionable moat of the times, 
and erect a castle. The next station is Alcester (Alauna) 
all which are nearly at equal distances. 

In forming these grand roads, a straight direction seems 
to have been their leading maxim. Though curiosity has 
led me to travel many hundred miles upon their roads, with 
the eye of an inquirer, I cannot recollect one instance 
where they ever broke the line to avoid a hill, a swamp, a 
rock, or a river. 



BIRMINGHAM, 303 

They were well acquainted with the propriety of an old 
English adage, Once zoell done is twice done; an idea 
newly clothed by Lord Chesterfield, If a thing be worth 
doing at all, it is worth doing well. For their roads 
were so durably constructed, that had they been appro- 
priated only to the use intended, they might have with- 
stood the efforts of time, and bid fair for eternity. Why 
is this useful art so lost among the moderns ? 

When time and intercourse had so far united the Romans 
and the Britons, that they approached nearly to one 
people the Romans formed or rather improved, many of 
the smaller roads ; placed stones of intelligence upon 
them ; hence London Stone, Stony Stratford (the stone at 
the Street-ford) Atherstone (hither, near, or first stone from 
Witherly Bridge, a Roman camp) and fixed their stations 
in their places to which these roads tended. 

The great roads, as observed before, were chiefly appro- 
priated for military purposes, and instituted in the begin- 
ning of their government ; but the smaller were of later 
date, and designed for common use. As these came more 
in practice, there was less occasion for the military ; which, 
not leading to their towns, were, in process of time, nearly 
laid aside. 

Antonine, and his numerous train of commentators, have 
not bestowed that attention on the roads they deserve : a 
curious acquaintance with the roads of a country, brings us 
acquainted with the manners of the people : in one, like a 
mirror, is exactly represented the other. Their state, like 
a master key, unlocks many apartments. 

The authors I have seen are all in the wrong ; and as 
my researches are confined, it is a mortification, I am not 
able to set them right. They have confounded the two 
classes together, which were very distinct in chronology, 
the manner of making, and their use. If an author treats 
of one old road, he supposes himself bound to treat of all 



304 HISTORY OF 

in the kingdom, a task no man can execute ■ by under- 
taking- much, we do nothing well ; the journey of an anti- 
quarian should never be rapid. If fortune offers a small 
discovery, let him think and compare. Neither will they 
ever be set right, but continue to build a mouldering 
fabric, with untempered mortar, till a number of intelligent 
residents, by local inquiries can produce solid materials for 
a lasting monument. 

The Romans properly termed their ways streets, a 
name retained by many of them to this day ; one of the 
smaller roads, issued from London, penetrates through 
Stratford-upon-Avon (Street-ford) Monkspath Street, and 
Shirley Street, to Birmingham, which proves it of great 
antiquity ; and the Ikenield Street running by it, proves 
it of greater. We may from hence safely conclude, Bir- 
mingham was a place of note in the time of Ceesar, 
because she merited legislative regard in forming their 
roads ; which will send us far back among- the Britons, to 
find her first existence. 

Though we are certain the Ikenield Street passes about 
a mile in length through this parish, as described above ; 
yet, as there are no Roman traces to be seen, I must take 
the curious traveller to that vast waste, called Sutton 
Coldfield, about four miles distant, where he will, in the 
same road, find the footsteps of those great masters of the 
world, marked in lasting characters. 

He will plainly see its straight line pass over the Ridge- 
way, through Sutton Park, leaving the west hedge about 
two hundred yards to the left ; through the remainder of 
Coldfield, till lost in cultivation. 

This track is more than three miles in length, and is no 
where else visible in these parts. I must apprise him that 
its highest beauty is only discovered by an horizontal sun 
in the winter months. 

I first saw it in 1762, relieved by the transverse rays, in 



BIRMINGHAM. 305 

a clear evening in November; I had a perfect view upon 
the Ridgeway, near King's Standing-, of this delightful 
scene. Had I been attacked by the chill blasts of winter 
upon this bleak mountain, the sensation would have been 
lost in the transport. The eye, at one view, takes in more 
than two miles. Struck with astonishment, I thought it 
the grandest I had ever beheld ; and was amazed, so noble 
a monument of antiquity should be so little regarded. 

The poets have long contended for the line of beauty — 
they may find it here. I was fixed as by enchantment till 
the sun dropped my prospect with it/]and I left the place 
with regret. 

If the industrious traveller chuses to wade up to the 
middle in gorse, as I did, he may find a roughish journey 
along this famous military way. 

Perhaps this is the only road in which money is of no 
use to the traveller ; for upon this barren wild he can 
neither spend it nor give it away. 

He will perceive the Coldfield, about thirteen thousand 
acres, to be one vast bed of gravel, covered with a moderate 
depth of soil of eight or ten inches : during this journey of 
three miles, he will observe all the way, on each side, a 
number of pits, perhaps more than a thousand, out of 
which the Romans procured the gravel to form the road, 
none of them many yards from it. This great number of 
pits tends to prove two points— that the country was full 
of timber, which they not choosing to fell, procured the 
gravel in the interstices ; for the road is composed of no- 
thing- else — and, that a great number of people were 
employed in its formation : they would also, with the trees 
properly disposed, which the Romans must inevitably cut 
to procure a passage, form a barrier to the road. 

This noble production was designed by a master, is 
every where straight, and executed with labour and judg- 
ment. 

2 it 



306 HISTORY OF 

Here he perceives the date of his own conquest, and of 
his civilization. Thus the Romans humbled a ferocious 
people. 

If he chooses to measure it, he will find it exactly sixty 
feet wide, divided into three lands, resembling those in a 
ploughed field. The centre land thirty-six feet, and 
raised from one to three, according to the nature of the 
grouud. The side lands, twelve each, and rising seldom 
more than one foot. 

This centre land no doubt was appropriated for the 
march of the troops, and the small one on each side, for 
the out-guards, who preserved their ranks, for fear of a 
surprise from the vigilant and angry Britons. 

The Romans held these roads in great esteem, and were 
severe in their laws for their preservation. 

This famous road is visible all the way, but in some 
parts greatly hurt, and in others complete as in the first 
day the Romans made it. Perhaps the inquisitive traveller 
may find here the only monument in the whole island left 
us by the Romans, that time hath not injured. 

The philosophical traveller may make some curious ob- 
servations in the line of agriculture, yet in its infancy. 

The only growth upon this wild, is gorse and ling ; the 
vegetation upon the road and the adjacent lands, seem 
equal : the pits are all covered with a tolerable turf. 

As this road has been made about one thousand seven 
hundred and thirty years, and, as at the time of making, 
both that and the pits must have been surfaces of neat 
gravel, he will be led to examine what degree of soil they 
have acquired in that long course of years, and by what 
means ? 

He well knows, that the surface of the earth is very far 
from being a fixed body ; that there is a continual motion 
in every part, stone excepted ; that the operations of the 
sun, the air, the frost, the dews, the winds, and the rain, 



BIRMINGHAM. 307 

produce a constant agitation, which changes the particles 
and the pores, tends to promote vegetation, and to increase 
the soil to a certain depth. 

This progress is too minute for the human eye, but the 
effects are visible. The powers above mentioned operate 
nearly as yeast ia a lump of dough, that enlivens the 
whole. Nature seems to wish that the foot would leave 
the path, that she may cover it with grass. He will find 
this vegetative power so strong, that it even attends the 
small detached parts of the soil wherever they go, provided 
they are within reach of air and moisture : he will not only 
observe it in the small pots, appropriated for garden use, 
but on the tops of houses, remote from any road, where the 
wind has carried any small dust. He will also observe it 
in cracks of the rocks ; but in an amazing degree in the 
thick walls of ruined castles, where, by a long course of 
time, the decayed materials are converted into a kind of 
soil, and so well covered with grass, that if one of our old 
castle builders could return to his possessions, he might 
mow his house as well as his field, and procure a tolerable 
crop from both. 

In those pits, upon an eminence, the soil will be found 
deep enough for any mode of husbandry. In those of the 
vallies, which take in the small drain of the adjacent parts, 
it is much deeper. That upon the road, which rather 
gives than receives any addition from drain, the average 
depth is about four inches. 

The soil is not only increased by the causes above, but 
also by the constant decays of the growth upon it. The 
present vegetable generation falling to decay, adds to the 
soil, and also, assists the next generation, which in a short 
time follows the same course. 

The author of the History of Sutton: says, "the poor 
inhabitants are supplied with fuel from a magazine of 
peat, near the Roman road, composed of thousands of 



MB HISTORY OF 

fir trees cut down by the Romans, to enable them to 
pass over a morass. The bodies of the trees are some- 
times dug up sound, with the marks of the axe upon 
them/' 

Are we then to suppose, by this curious historical 
anecdote, that the inhabitants of Sutton have run away 
with this celebrated piece of antiquity ? That the cart, 
instead of rolling over the military way. has rolled under 
it. and that they have boiled the pot with the Roman 
road ? 

Upon inquiry, they seemed more inclined to credit the 
fact, than able to prove it : but I can find no such morr 
neither is the road any where broken up. Perhaps it 
would be as difficult to find the trees, as the axe that cut 
them. Besides, the fir is not a native of Britain, but of 
Russia ; and T believe our forefathers, the Britons, were 
not complete masters of the are of transplanting. The 
park of Sutton was probably a bed of oaks: the natural 
weed of the country, long before Moses figured in history 
Whilst the political traveller is contemplating this ex- 
traordinary production of antiquity, of. art. and of labour, 
his thoughts will naturally recur to the authors of it. 

He will find them proficients in science, in ambition, in 
taste. They added dominion to conquest, till their original 
territory became too narrow a basis to support the vast 
fabric acquired by the success of their arms. The mon- 
strous bulk fell to destruction by its own weight. Man 
was not made for universality : if he grasps at little, he 
may retain it ; if at much, he may lose all. The confusion, 
natural on such occasions, produced anarchy. At that 
moment, the military stepped into the government, and the 
people became slaves. 

Upon the ruins of this brave race, the Bishop of Rome 
founded an ecclesiastical jurisdiction. His power increas- 
ing with his votaries-, he found means to link all Christendom 



BIRMINGHAM. 309 

to the triple crown, and acquired an unaccountable ascen- 
dancy over the human mind, The princes of Europe were 
harnessed, like so many coach horses. The pontiff di- 
rected the bridle. He sometimes used the whip, and 
sometimes the curse. The thunder of his throne rattled 
through the world with astonishing effect, until that most 
useful discovery, the art of printing, in the fifteenth 
century, dissolved the charm, and set the oppressed cattle 
at liberty, who began to kick their driver. Henry the 
VIII., of England, was the first unruly animal in the papal 
team, and the sagacious Cranmer assisted in breaking the 
shackles. 

We have, in our day, seen an order of priesthood in the 
church of Rome, annihilated by the consent of the European 
princes, which the pope beheld in silence. 

" There is an ultimate point of exaltation and reduction, 
beyond which human affairs cannot proceed." Rome 
seems to have experienced both, for she is at this day one 
of the most contemptible states in the scale of empire. 

This will of course lead the traveller's thoughts towards 
Britain, where he will find her sons by nature inclined to 
a love of arms, of liberty, and of commerce. These are 
the strong outlines of national character, the interior parts 
of which are finished with the softer touches of humanity, 
of science, and of luxury. He will also find, that there is 
a natural boundary to every country, beyond which it is 
dangerous to add dominion. That the boundary of Britain 
is the sea ; that her external strength is her navy, which 
protects her frontiers, and her commerce ; that her in- 
ternal is unanimity : that when her strength is united 
within herself, she is invincible, and the balance of Europe 
will be fixed in her hand, which she ought never to let go. 
But if she accumulates territory, though she may profit 
at first, she weakens her power by dividing it ; for the more 
she sends abroad, the less will remain at home ; and in- 



310 HISTORY OF 

stead of giving law to the tyrant, she may be obliged to 
receive law from him. 

That, by a multiplicity of additions, her little isles will 
be lost in the great map of dominion. 

That if she attempts to draw that vast and growing 
empire, America, she may herself be drawn to destruction ; 
for, by every law of attraction, the greater draws the less 
— the mouse was never meant to direct the ox. That the 
military and the ecclesiastical powers are necessary in their 
places, that is, subordinate to the civil. 

But my companion will remember that Birmingham is 
our historical mark, therefore we must retreat to that happy 
abode of the smiling arts. If he has no taste for antiquity, 
I have detained him too long upon this hungry, though 
delightful spot. If he has, he will leave the enchanted 
ground with reluctance ; will often turn his head to repeat 
the view till the prospect is totally lost. 

Lords of the Manor. 

By the united voice of our historians, it appears, that as 
the Saxons conquered province after province, which was 
effected in about one hundred and thirty years, the un- 
fortunate Britons retreated into Wales. But we are not 
to suppose that all the inhabitants ran away, and left a 
desolate region to the victor ; this would have been of little 
more value to the conqueror, than the possession of Sutton 
Coldfield or Bromsgrove Lickey. The mechanic and the 
peasant were left, which are by far the greatest number 
— they are also the riches of a country ; stamp a value 
upon property, and it becomes current. As they have 
nothing to lose, so they have nothing to fear ; for let who 
will be master, they must be drudges. Their safety con- 
sists in their servitude ; the victor is ever conscious of their 
utility, therefore their protection is certain. 

But the danger lies with the man of substance, and the 



BIRMINGHAM. 311 

greater that substance, the greater his anxiety to preserve 
it, and the more danger to himself if conquered. These 
were the people who retreated into Wales. Neither must 
we consider the wealth of that day to consist of bags of 
cash, bills of exchange, India bonds, bank stock, &c. ; no 
such thing existed. Property lay in the land, and the 
herds that fed upon it. And here I must congratulate our 
Welch neighbours, who are most certainly descended from 
gentlemen; and I make no doubt but the Cambrian reader 
will readily unite in the same sentiment. 

The Saxons, as conquerors, were too proud to follow 
the modes of the conquered, therefore they introduced 
government, laws, language, customs, and habits of their 
own. Hence we date the division of the kingdom into 
manors. 

Human nature is nearly the same in all ages. Where 
value is marked upon property or power, it will find its 
votaries. Whoever was the most deserving, or rather 
could make the most interest, procured land sufficient 
for an elderman, now earl ; the next class a manor ; and 
the inferior, who had borne the heat and burthen of the 
day — nothing. 

I must now introduce an expression which I promised 
not to forget. In the course of a trial between William de 
Birmingham and the inhabitants of Bromsgrove and King's 
Norton, in 1309, concerning the right of tollage, it appeared 
that the ancestors of the said William had a market here 
before the Norman conquest. This proves, that the family 
of Birmingham were of Saxon race, and lords of the manor 
prior to that period. 

Mercia was not only the largest, but also the last of the 
seven conquered kingdoms. It was bounded on the north 
by the Humber, on the west by the Severn, on the south 
by the Thames, and on the east by the German Ocean. 
Birmingham lies nearly in the centre. Cridda, a Saxon, 



312 



HISTORY OF 



came over with a body of troops, and reduced it in 582 ; 
therefore, as no after revolution happened that could cause 
Birmingham to change its owner, and as land was not in a 
very saleable state, there is the greatest reason to suppose 
the founder of the house of Birmingham came over with 
Cridda, as an officer in his army, and procured this little 
flourishing dominion as a reward for his service. 

The succeeding generations of this illustrious family are 
too remote for historical penetration, till the reign of 
Edward the Confessor, the last of the Saxon kings, when 
we find, in 1050, Uluuine, (since Alwine, now Alien,) 
master of this improving spot. 

Richard, 1066, 

Seems to have succeeded him, and to have lived in that 
unfortunate period for property, the conquest. 

The time was now arrived when this ancient family, 
with the rest of the English gentry, who had lived under 
the benign climate of Saxon government, and in the afflu- 
ence of fortune, must quit the happy regions of hospitality, 
and enter the gloomy precints of penury. From givers, 
they were to beeome beggars. 

The whole conduct of William seems to have carried the 
strongest marks of conquest. Many of the English lost 
their lives, some their liberty, and nearly all their estates. 
The whole land in the kingdom was insufficient to satisfy 
the hungry Normans. 

Perhaps William took the wisest method to secure the 
conquered country that could be devised by human wisdom : 
he parcelled out the kingdom among his greater barons ; the 
whole county of Chester is said to have fallen to the share 
of Hugh Lupus ; and these were subdivided into sixty-two 
thousand knight's fees, which were held under the great 
barons by military service. Thus the sovereign, by only 
signifying his pleasure to the barons, could instantly raise 



BIRMINGHAM. 313 

an army for any purpose. We cannot produce a stronger 
indication of arbitrary government ; but, it is happy for the 
world, that perfection is found even in human wisdom ; for 
this well laid scheme destroyed itself. Instead of making 
the crown absolute, as was intended, it threw the balance 
into the hands of the barons, who became so many petty 
sovereigns, and a scourge to the king in after ages, till Henry 
theVII. sapped their power, and raised the third estate, the 
the commons, which quickly eclipsed the other two. 

The English gentry suffered great distress. Their com- 
plaints rung loud in the royal ear, some of them therefore, 
who had been peaceable and never opposed the Normans, 
were suffered to enjoy their estates in dependence upon the 
great barons. This was the case with Richard, Lord of 
Birmingham, who held this manor by knight's-service of 
William Fitz-Ausculf, Lord of Dudley Castle, and perhaps 
the land between the two places. Thus Birmingham, now 
rising towards the meridian of opulence, was a dependent 
upon Dudley Castle, now in ruins ; and thus an honour- 
able family, who had enjoyed a valuable freehold, perhaps 
near five hundred years, were obliged to pay rent, homage, 
suit, and service, attend the Lord's Court at Dudley every 
three weeks, be called into the field at pleasure, and after 
all, possess a precarious tenure in villainage. 

The blood of the ancient English was not only tainted 
with the breath of that destructive age, but their lands 
also. The powerful blast destroyed their ancient freehold 
tenures, reducing them into wretched copyholds ; and to 
the disgrace of succeeding- ages, many of them retain this 
mark of Norman slavery to the present day, How defec- 
tive are those laws, which give one man power over another 
in neutral cases ? That tend to promote quarrels, prevent 
cultivation, and which cannot draw the line between pro- 
perty and property ? 

Though a spirit of bravery is certainly part of the British 

2 « 



314 HISTORY OF 

character, yet there are two or three periods in English 
history, when this noble flame was totally extinguished. 
Every degree of resolution seems to have been cut off at 
the battle of Hastings. The English acted contrary to 
their usual manner : — danger had often made them des- 
perate, but now it made them humble. This conquest is 
one of the most extraordinary held forth in history ; the 
flower of nobility was wholly nipped off; the spirit of the 
English depressed, and having no head to direct, or hand 
to cultivate the courage of the people and lead it into 
action, it dwindled at the root, was trampled under the foot 
of tyranny, and, according to Smollet, several generations 
elapsed before any one of the old English stock blossomed 
into peerage. 

It is curious to contemplate the revolution of things. 
Though the conquering Romans stood first in the annals 
of fame at the beginning of the Christian asra, yet they 
were a whole century in carrying their illustrious arms 
over the island, occupied only by a despicable race of 
Britons. Though the Saxons were invited, by one false 
step in politics, to assist the Britons in expelling an enemy, 
which gave them an opportunity of becoming enemies 
themselves ; yet it was one hundred and thirty years before 
they could complete their conquest. And though the 
industrious Dane poured incessant numbers of people into 
Britain, yet it cost them two hundred years, and one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand men before they reduced it. But 
William, at one blow, finished the dreadful work, shackled 
her sons to his throne, and governed them with a sceptre 
of iron. Normandy, a petty dukedom, very little larger 
than Yorkshire, conquered a mighty nation in one day. 
England seems to have been taken by storm, and her liber- 
ties put to the sword. Nor did the miseries of this ill- 
fated kingdom end here, for the continental dominions, 
which William annexed to the crown, proved a whirlpool 



BIRMINGHAM. 315 

for four hundred years, which drew the blood and treasure 
of the nation into^ its vortex, till those dominions were 
fortunately lost in the reign of Mary the I. 

Thus the Romans spent one century in acquiring a king- 
dom, which they governed for four. The Saxons spent 
one hundred and thirty years, and ruled for four hundred 
and fifty-nine. The Danes spent two hundred and reigned 
twenty-five ; but the Norman spent one day only, for a 
reign of seven hundred years. They continue to reign still. 

It is easy to point out some families of Norman race, 
who yet enjoy the estates won by their ancestors at the 
battle of Hastings. 

William, 1130. 

Like his unfortunate father, was in a state of vassalage. 
The male line of the Fitz-Ausculfs soon became extinct, 
and Gervase Paganall marrying the heiress, became baron 
of Dudley Castle. 

Peter de Birmingham, 1154. 

It is common in every class of life, for the inferior to 
imitate the superior. If the real lady claims a head-dress 
sixteen inches high, that of the imaginary lady will imme- 
diately begin to thrive. The family, or surname, entered 
with William the I., and was the reigning taste of the day. 
A person was thought of no consequence without a sur- 
name ; and even the depressed English, crept into the 
fashion, in imitation of their masters. I have already 
mentioned the Earl of Warwick, father of a numerous race 
now in Birmingham, whose name before the conquest was 
simply Turchill, but after Turchill de Arden (master of the 
woods) from his own estate. Thus the family of whom 
I speak, chose to dignify themselves with the name of de 
Birmingham. 

Peter wisely consulted his own interest, kept fair with 



316 HISTORY OF 

Paganall his Lord, and obtained from him, in 1166, nine 
knight's fees which he held by military service. He 
also obtained a charter to hold a market on Thursday, 
weekly, from Henry the II., in the twelfth year of his 
reign. 

A knight's fee, though uncommon now, was a word 
well understood six hundred years ago. It did not mean, 
as some have imagined, fifteen pounds per annum, nor 
any determinate sum ; but as much land as would sup- 
port a gentleman. This Peter was sewer to Paganall, 
(waited at his table) though a man of great property. 

The splendour in which the great barons of that age 
lived, was little inferior to royalty. 

The party distinctions also of Saxon and Norman in the 
twelfth century, began to die away, as the people became 
united by ioterest or marriage, like that of Whig and Tory, 
in the eighteenth. And perhaps there is not at present a 
native that does not carry in his veins the blood of the 
four nations that were grafted upon the Britons. 

Peter himself lived in affluence at his castle, then near 
Birmingham, now the Moat, of which in the next section. 
He also obtained from Henry the II., as well as from 
Paganall the Lord paramount, several valuable privileges 
for his favourite inheritance of Birmingham. He bore for 
his arms, azure, a bend lozenge, of five points, or ; the 
coat of his ancestors. 

William de Birmingham, 1216. 

At the reduction of Ireland, in the reign of Henry the 
II., a branch of this family, perhaps uncle to William, 
was very instrumental under Richard Strongbow, Earl of 
Pembroke, in accomplishing that great end ; for which he 
was rewarded with a large estate, and the title of Earl of 
Lowth, both which continue in his family. Perhaps they 
are the only remains of this honourable house. 



BIRMINGHAM. 317 

William de Birmingham, 1246. 

By this time the male line of the Paganalls was worn 
out, and Roger de Someri marrying the heiress, became 
Baron of Dudley, with all its dependencies ; but Someri 
and Birmingham did not keep peace, as their fathers had 
done. William, being very rich, forgot to ride to Dudley 
every three weeks, to perform suit and service at Someri's 
court. Whereupon a contest commenced to enforce the per- 
formance. But, in 1262, it was agreed between the contend- 
ing parties that William should attend the lord's court only 
twice a-year, Easter and Michaelmas, and at such other 
times as the lord choose to command by special summons. 
This William, having married the daughter of Thomas de 
Astley, a man of great eminence, and both joining- with 
the barons under Simon Mountfort, Earl of Leicester, 
against Henry the III., William fell in 1265, at the battle 
of Evesham ; and as the loser is ever a rebel, the barons 
were proscribed, and their estates confiscated. 

The manor of Birmingham, therefore valued at £40 per 
annum, was seized by the king, and given to his favourite;, 
Roger de Clifford. 

William de Birmingham, 1265. 

By a law called the statute of Kenilworth, every man 
who had forfeited his estate to the crown, having taken up 
arms, had liberty to redeem his lands, by a certain fine : 
William therefore paid that fine, and recovered his inheri- 
tance of his family. He also, in 1283, strengthened 
his title by a charter from Edward the I., and likewise 
to the other manors he possessed, such as Stockton, in 
the County of Worcester ; Shetford, in Oxfordshire; Maid- 
encoat, in Berkshire ; Hoggeston, in the county of Bucks \ 
and Christleton in Cheshire. 

In 1285, Edward brought his writ of quo warranto, 



318 HISTORY OF 

whereby every holder of land was obliged to shew by what 
title he held it. The consequence would have been dread- 
ful to a prince of less prudence than Edward. Some 
shewed great unwillingness ; for a dormant title will not 
always bear examination ; — but William producing divers 
charters, clearly proved his right to every manorial privi- 
lege, such as market, toll, tern, sack, sok, infangenthief, 
weyfs, gallows, court-leet, and pillory, with a right to fix 
the standard for bread and beer ; all which were allowed. 

William, Lord of Birmingham, being a military tenant, 
was obliged to attend the king into Gascoigne, 1297, 
where he lost his liberty at the siege of Bellgard, and was 
carried prisoner in triumph to Paris. 

William de Birmingham, 1306. 

This is the man who tried the right of tollage with the 
people of Bromsgrove and King's Norton. 

William de Birmingham, Lord Birmingham, 1316, 

Was knighted in 1325 ; well affected to Edward the II., 
for whose service he raised four hundred foot. Time seems 
to have put a period to the family of Someri, Lords of 
Dudley, as well as those of their predecessors, the Paga- 
nalls, and the Fitz-Ausculfs. 

In 1327, the first of Edward the III., Sir William was 
summoned to parliament, by the title of William Lord 
Birmingham, but not after. 

It was not the fashion of that day to fill the House of 
Peers by patent. The greater barons held a local title 
from the baronies ; the possessor of one of these claimed a 
seat among the lords. I think they are now all extinct, 
except Arundel, the property of the Norfolk family, and 
and whoever is proprietor of Arundel Castle, is Earl thereof 
by ancient prescription. 

The lesser barons were called up to the house by writ. 



B1RMJNGHAM. 3l9 

which did not confer an hereditary title. Of this class 
was the Lord of Birmingham. 

Hugh Spencer, the favourite of the weak Edward the II., 
had procured the custody of Dudley Castle, with all its 
appendages, for his friend William, Lord Birmingham. 
Thus the family who had travelled from Birmingham to 
Dudley every three weeks, to perform humble suit at the 
lord's court, held that very court by royal appointment, to 
receive the fealty of others. 

By the patent which constituted William keeper of 
Dudley Castle, he was obliged to account for the annual 
profits arising from the vast estate into the King's Ex- 
chequer. When, therefore, in 1334, he delivered in his 
accounts, the Barons refused to admit them, because the 
money was defective. But he had interest enough with 
the crown to cause a mandamus to be issued, commanding 
the barons to admit them. 

Sir Fouk de Birmingham, 1340. 

This man advanced to Sir Baldwin Freville, Lord of 
Tamworth, forty-eight marks, upon mortgage of five mills. 
The ancient coat of the bend lozenge, was now changed 
for the partie per pale, indented, or, and gides. 

In 1352 and 1362, he was returned a member for the 
county of Warwick ; also, in three or four succeeding 
parliaments. 

Sir John de Birmingham, 1376. 

Served the office of sheriff for the county of Warwick, 
in 1379, and was successively returned to serve in parlia- 
ment for the counties of Warwick, Bedford, and Bucking- 
ham. He married the daughter of William de la Planch, 
by whom he had no issue. She afterwards married the 
Lord Clinton, retained the manor of Birmingham as her 
dower, and lived to the year 1424. 



320 HISTORY OF 

It does not appear in this illustrious family, that the 
regular line of descent, from father to son, was ever broken, 
from the time of the Saxons, till 1390. This Sir John 
left a brother, Sir Thomas de Birmingham, heir-at-law, 
who enjoyed the bulk of his brother's fortune ; but was not 
to possess the manor of Birmingham till the widow's 
death, which not happening till after his own, he never 
enjoyed it. 

The Lord Clinton and his lady seem to have occupied 
the Manor House ; and Sir Thomas, unwilling to quit the 
place of his affections and of his nativity, erected a castle 
for himself at Worstone, near the Sand Pits, joining the 
Ikenield Street; where, though the building is totally gone, 
the vestiges of its liquid security are yet complete. This 
Sir Thomas enjoyed several public offices, and figured 
in the style of his ancestors. He left a daughter, who 
married Thomas de la Roche, and from this marriage 
sprang two daughters; the eldest of which married Ed- 
mund, Lord Ferrers of Chartley, who, at the decease of 
Sir John's widow, inherited the manor, and occupied the 
Manor House. There yet stands a building on the 
north-east side of the Moat, erected by this Lord Ferrers, 
with his arms in the timbers of the ceiling, and the crest, 
a horseshoe. I take this house to be the oldest in Bir- 
mingham, though it has not that appearance, having stood 
about three hundred and sixty years. 

By an entail of the manor upon the male line, the Lady 
Ferrers seems to have quitted her title in favour of a 
second cousin, a descendant of William de Birmingham, 
brother to Sir Fouk. 

William de Birmingham, 1430, 

In the the nineteenth of Henry the VI., 1441, is said to 
have held his manor of Birmingham, of Sir John Sutton, 
Lord of Dudley, by military, service ; but instead of pay- 



BIRMINGHAM. 321 

ing homage, fealty, escuage, &c. as his ancestors had done, 
which was very troublesome to the tenant, and brought 
only empty honour to the lord : and, as sometimes the 
lord's necessities taught him to think that money was 
more solid than suit and service, an agreement was entered 
into, for money instead of homage, between the lord and 
the tenant. Such agreements now became common. 
Thus land became a kind of bastard freehold ; — the tenant 
held a certainty while he conformed to the agreement : or, 
in other words, the custom of the manor; and the lord 
still possessed a material control. He died in 1479, 
leaving a son. 

Sir William Birmingham, 1479, 

Aged thirty at the decease of his father. He married 
Isabella, heiress of William Hilton, by whom he had a 
son, William, who died before his father, June 7, 1502, 
leaving a son. 

Edward Birmingham, 1500. 

Born in 1497, and succeeded his grandfather at the age 
of three. During his minority, Henry the VII., 1500, 
granted the wardship to Edward, Lord Dudley. 

The family estate then consisted of the manors of Bir- 
mingham, Over Warton, Nether Warton, Mock Tew, 
Little Tew, and Shutford in the county of Oxford, Hogges- 
ton in Bucks, and Billesley in the county of Worcester. 
Edward afterwards married Elizabeth, widow of William 
Ludford of Annesley, by whom he had one daughter, who 
married a person of the name of Atkinson. 

But after the peaceable possession of a valuable estate 
for thirty-seven years; the time was now arrived, when 
the mounds of justice must be broken down by the weight of 
power, a whole deluge of destruction enter, and overwhelm 
an ancient and illustrious family, in the person of an inno- 

2 T 



399 



HISTORY OF 



cent man. The world would view the diabolical transaction 
with amazement, none daring to lend assistance to the 
unfortunate ; not considering that property should ever be 
under the protection of law ; and, what was Edward's case 
to-day, might be that of any other man to-morrow. But 
the oppressor kept fair with the crown, and the crown held 
a rod of iron over the people. Suffer me to tell the mourn- 
ful tale from Dug-dale's Antiquities of Warwickshire. 

'■ 1537. 

John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, a man of 
great wealth, unbounded ambition, and one of the basest 
characters of the age, was possessor of Dudley Castle, and 
the fine estate belonging' to it. He wished to add Birming- 
ham to his vast domain. Edward Birmingham therefore 
was privately sounded, respecting the disposal of his manor; 
but as money was not wanted, and as the place had been 
the honour and the residence of his family for many centu- 
ries, it was out of the reach of purchase. 

Northumberland was so charmed with its beauty, he 
was determined to possess it ; and perhaps the manner in 
which he accomplished his design, cannot be paralleled 
in the annals of infamy. 

He procured two or three rascals of his own temper, and 
rather of mean appearance, to avoid suspicion, to take up 
their quarters for a night or two in Birmingham, and gain 
secret intelligence when Edward Birmingham should ride 
out, and what road. This done, one of the rascals was to 
keep before the others, but all took care that Edward 
should easily overtake them. Upon his arrival at the first 
class, the villains joined him, entered into chat, and all 
moved soberly together till they reached the first man; 
when, on a sudden, the strangers with Edward drew their 
pistols and robbed their brother villain, who no doubt lost 
a considerable sum after a decent resistance. Edward was 



BIRMINGHAM. 323 

easily known, apprehended, and committed as one of the 
robbers ; the others were not to be found. 

Edward immediately saw himself on the verge of destruc- 
tion. He could only allege, but not prove his innocence. 
All the proof the case could admit of was against him. 

Northumberland (then only Lord L'Isle) hitherto had 
succeeded to his wish ; nor was Edward long in suspense. 
Private hints were given him, that the only way to save his 
life, was to make Northumberland his friend; and this 
probably might be done, by resigning him his manor of 
Birmingham ; with which the unfortunate Edward reluc- 
tantly complied. 

Northumberland thinking a conveyance insufficient, 
caused Edward to yield his estate into the hands of the 
king, and had interest enough in that age of injustice to 
procure a -ratification from a weak parliament, by which 
means he endeavoured to throw the odium off his own 
character and fix it upon theirs, and also to procure to 
himself a safer title. 

An extract from that base act is as follows : — ■ 

" Whereas Edward Byrmingham, late of Byrmingham 
in the countie of Warwick, Esquire, otherwise callid Edward 
Byrmingham, Esquire, ys and standyth lawfully indettid 
to our soverene Lord the Kinge, in diverse grete summes 
of money; and also standyth at the mercy of his High- 
ness, for that the same Edward ys at this present convected 
of felony; Ourseide soverene Lord the Kinge ys contentid 
and pleasid, that for and in recompence and satisfaction 
to his Grace of the seyde summes of money, to accept and 
take of the seyde Edward the mannour and lordship of 
Byrmingham, otherwise called Byrmincham, with the 
appartinances, lying and being in the countie of Warwick, 
and all and singuler other lands and tenements, reversions, 
rents, services, and hereditaments of the same Edward 
Byrmingham, set, lying and beying in the countie of War- 



324 HISTORY OF 

wick aforesaid. Be yt therefore ordeyned and enacted, by 
the authoritie of this present parliament, that our seyde 
soverene Lord the Kinge shall have, hold, and enjoy, to 
him and his heires and assigns for ever, the seyde mannour 
and lordship of Byrmingham, &c." 

In the act there is a reservation of £40 per annum, 
during the lives of the said Edward and his wife. 

It appears also by an expression in the act, that Edward 
was brought to trial, and found guilty. Thus innocence is 
depressed for want of support ; property is wrested for want 
of the protection of the law ; and a vile minister, in a 
corrupt age, can carry an infamous point through a court 
of justice, the two houses of Parliament, and complete his 
horrid design by the sanction of a tyrant. 

The place where tradition tells us this diabolical trans- 
action happened, is the middle of Sandy Lane, in the 
Sutton Road ; the upper part of which begins at the North- 
east corner of Aston Park wall ; at the bottom you bear 
to the left, for Sawford Bridge, or to the right, for Nachell's 
Green ; about two miles from the Moat, the place of 
Edward's abode. 

Except that branch which proceeded from this original 
stem, about six hundred years ago, of which the Earl of 
Lowth is head, I know of no male descendant from this 
honourable stock ; who, if we allow the founder to have 
come over with Cridda, the Saxon, in 582, must have com- 
manded this little sovereignty nine hundred and fifty-five 
years. 

I met with a person some time ago of the name of Bir- 
mingham, and was pleased with the hope of finding a 
member of that ancient and honourable house ; but he 
proved so amazingly ignorant, he could not tell whether he 
was from the clouds, the sea, or the dunghill ; instead of 
tracing the existence of his ancestors, even so high as his 
father, he was scarcely conscious of his own, 



BIRMINGHAM. 325 

As this house did not much abound with daughters, 
I cannot at present recollect any families among us except 
that of Bracebridge, who are descended from this illustri- 
ous origin, by a female line ; and Sir John Talbot Dillon, 
who is descended from the ancient Earls of Lowth, as he 
is from the De Veres, the more ancient Earls of Oxford. 

Here, then, I unwillingly extinguish that long range of 
lights, which for many ages illuminated the house of Bir- 
mingham. But I cannot extinguish the rascality of the 
line of Northumberland. This unworthy race proved a 
scourge to the world, at least during three generations. 
Each, in his turn, presided in the British cabinet, and each 
seems to have possessed the villainy of his predecessor, 
united with his own. The first only served a throne ; but 
the second and third intended to Jill one. A small degree 
of ambition warms the mind in pursuit of fame through 
the paths of honour ; while too large a portion tends to 
unfavourable directions, kindles to a flame, consumes the 
finer sensations of rectitude, and leaves a stench behind. 

Edmund, the father of this John, was the voracious leech, 
with Empson, who sucked the vitals of the people, to feed 
the avarice of Henry the VII. It is singular that Henry, 
the most sagacious prince since the conquest, loaded him 
with honours for filling the royal coffers with wealth, which 
the penurious monarch never durst enjoy ; but his succes- 
sor, Henry the VIII. enjoyed the pleasure of consuming 
that wealth, and executed the father for collecting it ! 
How much are our best laid schemes defective ? How 
little does expectation and event coincide ? It is no 
disgrace to a man that he died on the scaffold; the 
question is, what brought him there ? Some of the most 
inoffensive, and others the most exalted characters of the 
age in which they lived, have been cut off by the axe, as 
Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, for being the last 
male heir of the Anjouvin Kings ; John Fisher, Bishop of 



326 HISTORY OP 

Rochester, Sir Thomas Moore, Sir Walter Raleigh, Alger- 
non Sidney, William Lord Russell, &c. whose blood orna- 
mented the scaffold on which they fell. 

The son of this man, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 
favourite of Queen Elizabeth, is held up by historians as a 
master-piece of dissimulation, pride, and cruelty. He 
married three wives, all of which he is charged with send- 
ing to the grave by untimely deaths ; one of them, to open 
a passage to the queen's bed, to which he aspired. It is 
surprising that he should deceive the penetrating- eye of 
Elizabeth ; but I am much inclined to think she knew him 
better than the world ; and they knew him rather too well. 
He ruined many of the English gentry, particularly the 
ancient family of Arden, of Park Hall, in this neighbour- 
hood. He afterwards ruined his own family by disinherit- 
ing a son, more worthy than himself. If he did not fall by 
the executioner, it is no proof that he did not deserve it. — 
We now behold 

John Duke of Northumberland, 1537. 

Lord of the manor of Birmingham ; a man, who of all 
others the least deserved that honour ; or rather, deserved 
the axe for being so. 

Some have asserted, " that property acquired by dis- 
honesty cannot prosper." But I shall leave the philosopher 
and the enthusiast to settle that point, while I go on to 
observe, that the lordship of Birmingham did not prosper 
with the Duke. Though he had, in some degree, the 
powers of government in his hands, he had also the 
clamours of the people in his ears. What were his inward 
feelings, is uncertain at this distance — fear seems to have 
prevented him from acknowledging Birmingham for his 
property. Though he exercised every act of ownership, 
yet he suffered the fee, simple to rest in the. crown till nine 



BIRMINGHAM. 327 

years had elapsed, and those clamours subsided, before he 
ventured to accept the grant in 1546. 

As the execution of this grant was one of the last acts 
of Henry's life, we should be apt to suspect the duke 
carried it in his pocket ready for signing, but deferred 
the matter as long as he could with safety, that distance 
of time might annihilate reflection ; and that the king's 
death, which happened a few weeks after, might draw the 
attention of the world too much, by the importance of the 
event, to regard the Duke's conduct. 

The next six years, which carries us through the reign 
of Edward the VI., is replete with the intrigues of this 
illustrious knave. He sought connexions with the principal 
families ; he sought honours for his own ; he procured a 
match between his son, the Lord Guildford Dudley, and 
the Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, 
and a descendant from Henry the VII., with intent of 
fixing the crown in his family, but failing in the attempt, 
he brought ruin upon the Suffolk family, and himself to 
the block, in the first of Queen Mary, 1523. 

Though a man be guilty of many atrocious acts that 
deserve death, yet in the hour of distress, humanity de- 
mands the tear of compassion ; but the case was otherwise 
at the execution of John, Duke of Northumberland, for a 
woman near the scaffold held forth a bloody handkerchief 
and exclaimed, " Behold the blood of the Duke of Somer- 
set, shed by your means, and which cries for vengeance 
against you." 

Thus Northumberland kept a short and rough posses- 
sion of glory ; thus he fell unlamented ; and thus the 
manor of Birmingham reverted to the crown a second time, 
the duke himself having first taught it the way. 

Birmingham continued two years in the crown, till the 
third of Queen Mary, when she granted it to 



328 HISTORY OF 

Thomas Marrow, 1555, 

Whose family, for many descents, resided at Berkswell, 
in this county. 

In the possession of the high bailiff is a bushel measure, 
cast in brass, of some value ; round which in relief is, 
SAMUEL MARROW, LORD OF THE MANOR 
OF BIRMINGHAM, 1664. 

The lordship continued in this family about one hundred 
and ninety-one years, till the male line failing 1 , it became 
the joint property of four co-heirs : — Ann, married to Sir 
Arthur Kaye; Mary, the wife of John Knightley, Esq. ; 
Ursulla, the wife of Sir Robert Wilmot: and Arabella, 
unmarried ; who, in about 1730, disposed of the private 
estate in the manor, amounting to about £400 per annum, 
to Thomas Sherlock, Bishop of London, as before observed, 
and the manor itself to 

Thomas Archer, Esq., for £1700, in 1746, 

Of an ancient family, who have resided at Umberslade, 
in this county, more than six hundred years ; from hiin it 
descended to 

Andrew, Lord Archer, 

Who died about 1778, leaving the manor to his three 
daughters, one of whom married the Earl of Plymouth. 
Christopher Musgrave, Esq., who married another of the 
daughters, possesses the royalty of the manor, with very 
few of its emoluments ; he having sold, about seven years 
ago, to the town commissioners, the market rights, for 
£12,500, now worth £45,000. The produce of the market 
tolls, for the year ending- June, 1834, was £3021 15s. 2d. 
The expenses of collection, &c, for the same period, 
£669 9s. 2d. ; nett income, £2352 6s. As it does not 
appear that the subsequent lords, after the extinction of 



BIRMINGHAM. 329 

the house of Birmingham, were resident upon the manor, 
I omit particulars. Let me remark, this place yet gives 
title to the present Lord Viscount Dudley and Ward, 
as descended, by the female line, from the great 
Norman Barons, the Fitz-Ausculfs, the Paganalls, the 
Somerys, the Suttons, and the Dudleys, successive 
lords paramount, whose original power is reduced to a 
name. 

Manor House, (the Moat. J 

The natural temper of the human mind, like that of the 
brute, is given to plunder. This temper is very apt to 
break forth into action. In all societies of men, therefore, 
restraints have been discovered, under the name of laws, 
attended with punishment, to deter people from infringing 
each others property. Everything that a man can possess, 
falls under the denomination of property ; whether it be 
life, liberty, wealth, or character. 

The less perfect these laws are, the less a people are 
removed from the rude state of nature, and the more ne- 
cessity there is for a man to be constantly in a state of 
defence, that he may be able to repel any force that shall 
rise up against him. 

It is easy to discover, by the laws of a country, how far 
the people are advanced in civilization. If the laws are 
defective, or the magistrate too weak to execute them, it is 
dangerous for a man to possess property. 

But when a nation is pretty far advanced in social ex- 
istence ; when the laws agree with reason, and are executed 
with firmness, a man need not trouble himself concerning 
the protection of his property — his country will protect it 
for him. 

The laws of England, have for many ages, been gradually 
refining ; and are capable of that protection which violence 
never was. But if we penetrate back into the recesses of 

2 u 



330 HISTORY OF 

time, we shall find the laws inadequate, the manners 
savage, force occupy the place of justice, and property un- 
protected. In those barbarous ages, men sought security 
by intrenching themselves from a world they could not 
trust. This was done by opening a large trench round 
their habitation, which they filled with water, and which 
was only approachable by a draw-bridge. This, in some 
degree, supplied the defect of the law, and the want of 
power in the magistrate. It also, during the iron reign of 
priesthood, furnished that table in lent, which it guarded 
all the year. 

The Britons had a very slender knowledge of fortification. 
The camps they left us, are chiefly upon eminences, girt 
by a shallow ditch, bordered with stone, earth, or timber, 
but never with water. The moat was introduced by the 
Romans ; their camps are often in marshes, some wholly, 
and some in part surrounded by water. 

These liquid barriers were begun in England early in 
the Christian era, they were in the zenith of their glory 
at the barons' wars, in the reign of King John, and con- 
tinued to be the mode of fortification till the introduction 
of guns, in the reign of Edward the IV., which shook their 
foundation ; and the civil wars of Charles the I. totally 
annihilated their use, after an existence of twelve hundred 
years. 

Perhaps few parishes that have been the ancient habita- 
tion of a gentleman, are void of some traces of these fluid 
bulwarks. That of Birmingham has three ; one of these, 
of a square form, at Warstone, erected by a younger 
brother of the house of Birmingham, has already been 
mentioned. 

Another is the parsonage-house belonging to St. Mar- 
tin's, formerly situated in the road to Bromsgrove, now 
Smallbrook Street, of a circular figure, and supplied by a 
neighbouring spring. If we allow this watery circle to be 



BIRMINGHAM. 331 

a proof of the great antiquity of the house, it is a much 
greater with regard to the antiquity of the church. 

The third is what we simply denominated the Moat, and 
was the residence of the ancient lords of Birmingham, 
situated about sixty yards south of the church, and twenty 
west of Digbeth. This was also circular, and supplied by 
a small stream that crossed the road to Bromsgrove, near 
the first mile stone ; it originally ran into the river Rea, 
near Vaughton's hole, dividing the parishes of Birmingham 
and Edgbaston all the way ; but at the formation of the 
Moat was diverted from its course, into which it is now 
returned. 

No certain evidence remains to inform us when this 
liquid work was accomplished : perhaps in the Saxon hep- 
tarchy, when there were few or no buildings south of the 
church. Digbeth seems to have been one of the first 
streets added to this important school of arts ; the upper 
part of that street must of course have been formed first ; 
but that the moat was completed prior to the erection of 
any buildings between that and Digbeth, is evident, 
because those buildings stand upon the very soil thrown 
out in forming the Moat. 

The first certain account that we meet with of this 
guardian circle, is the reign of Henry the II., 1154, when 
Peter de Birmingham, then lord of the fee, had a castle 
here, and lived in splendour. All the succeeding lords 
resided upon the same island, till their cruel expulsion, by 
John, Duke of Northumberland, in 1537. 

The old castle followed its lords, and is buried in the 
ruins of time. Upon the spot, about 1740, rose a house 
in the modern style, occupied by a manufacturer (Thomas 
Francis); in one of the outbuildings was shewn, the 
apartment where the ancient lords kept their court leet ; 
another out-building which stood to the east, I have already 
observed was the work of Edmund Lord Ferrers. 



332 HISTORY OF 

The trench being filled with water, had nearly the same 
appearance then, as perhaps, a thousand years before, 
but not altogether the same use. It at first served to 
protect its master, but then to turn a thread-mill. 

Pudding Brook. 

Near the place where the small rivulet discharged itself 
into the Moat, another of the same size was carried over it, 
and proceeded from the town as this advanced towards it, 
producing a curiosity seldom met with ; one river running 
south, and the other north, for half-a-mile, yet only a 
path-road of three feet asunder ; which surprised Brindley, 
the famous engineer. 

The Moat having been filled up to form Smithfield 
Market-Place, the stream that did supply it with water is 
now returned to its original channel, and the continuations 
of Hurst and Essex Streets, with some new ones having 
been formed, crossing Pudding Brook (a common sewer to 
convey filth from the town, hence its name) at nearly right 
angles ; this dr^ain will of course be conveyed under cover 
in future. 

- The Priory. 

The site of this ancient edifice is now the square ; some 
small remains of the old foundations are yet visible in the 
cellars, chiefly on" the south-east. The out-buildings and 
pleasure .grounds perhaps occupied the whole north-east 
side of Bull Street,/then uninhabited, and only the high- 
way to Wolverhampton ; bounded on the north-west by 
Steelhouse Lane, on the north-east by Newton and John's 
Street, and on the south-east by Dale End, which also was 
no other than the highway to Lichfield. The whole about 
fourteen acres. . 

The building upon this delightful eminence, which at 



BIRMINGHAM. 333 

that time commanded the small but beautiful prospect of 
Bristland- Field?, Rowley Hills, Oldbury, Smethwick, 
Handsworth, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Saltley, the Gar- 
rison, and Camp Hill, which then stood at a distance from 
the town, though now near its centre, was founded by the 
house of Birmingham, in the early reigns of tlje Norman 
kings, and called the Hospital of St. Thomas — the priest 
being bound to pray for the souls of the founders every day, 
to the end of the world. 

In 1285, Thomas de Madenhache, lord of the manor of 
Aston, gave ten acres of land in his manor. William de 
Birmingham ten, which I take to be the land where the 
priory stood ; and Ranulph de Rakeby three acres, in 
Saltley. About the same time, sundry others gave houses 
and land in smaller quantities. William de Birmingham 
gave afterwards twenty-two acres more. The same active 
spirit seems to have operated in our ancestors five hundred 
years ago, that does in their descendants at this day. If 
a new scheme strikes the fancy, it is pursued with vigour. 

The religious fervour of that day ran high ; it was un- 
fashionable to leave the world, and not remember the 
Piiory. Donations crowded in so fast, that the prohibiting 
act was forgot; so that in 1311, the brotherhood were 
prosecuted by the crown, for appropriating lands contrary 
to the act of mortmain ; but these interested priests, like 
their sagacious brethren, knew as well how to preserve as 
to gain property ; for upon their humble petition to the 
throne, Edward the II. put a stop to the judicial proceed- 
ings, and granted a special pardon. 

In 1351, Fouk de Birmingham, and Richard Spencer, 
jointly gave to the priory one hundred acres of land, part 
lying in Aston, and part in Birmingham, to maintain 
another priest, who should celebrate divine service daily 
at the altar of the Virgin Mary, in the church of the 
hospital, for the souls of William la Mercer and his wife, 



334 HISTORY OF 

The church is supposed to have stood upon the spot now 
No. 27, in Bull Street. 

In the garden belonging to the Red Bull, No. 83, nearly 
opposite, have been discovered human bones, which has 
caused some to suppose it the place of interment for the 
religious, belonging to the priory, which I rather doubt. 
The cemetery must have extended north to the Minories. 
leading to the square, for in the premises of Charles 
Greatrex, many bushels of human bones were dug up 
in 1786, in great perfection, the polish of the teeth re- 
maining-. 

At the dissolution of the abbies, in 1536, the king's 
visitors valued the annual income at the trifling sum of 
8/. 8s. 9d. 

The patronage continued chiefly in the head of the 
Birmingham family. Dugdale gives us a list of some of 
the priors, who held dominion in this little commonwealth, 
from 1326, till the total annihilation, being two hundred 
and ten years. 

Robert Marmion, Robert Browne, 

Robert Cappe, John Port, 

Thomas Edmunds, William Priestwood, 

John Frothward, Henry Drayton, 

John Cheyne, Sir Edward Tofte, 

Henry Bradley, Thomas Salpin. 
Henry Hody, 

Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, a man of much 
honour, more capacity, and yet more spirit, was the in- 
strument with which Henry the VIII. destroyed the abbies ; 
but Henry, like a true politician of the house of Tudor, 
wisely threw the blame upon the instrument, held it forth 
to the public in an odious light, and then sacrificed it to 
appease an angry people. 

This destructive measure against the religious houses. 



BIRMINGHAM. 335 

originated from royal letchery, and was replete with con- 
sequences. 

It opened the fountains of learning, at that day confined 
to the monastery, and the streams diffused themselves 
through various ranks of men. The revival of letters and 
of science made a rapid progress. It soon appeared that 
the stagnate knowledge of the priest was abundantly mixed 
with error ; but now, running through the laity, who had 
no private interest to serve, it became more pure. 

It removed great numbers of men, who lay as a dead 
weight upon the community, and they became useful 
members of society. When younger sons could no longer 
find an' asylum within the gloomy walls of a convent, 
they sought a livelihood in trade. Commerce, therefore, 
was taught to crowd her sails, cross the western ocean, fill 
the country with riches, and change an idle spirit into that 
of industry. 

By the destruction of religious houses, architecture sus- 
tained a temporary wound. They were by far the most 
magnificent and expensive buildings in the kingdoms, 
far surpassing those of the nobility ; some of these struc- 
tures are yet habitable, though the major part are gone 
to decay. But modern archirecture hath since out-done 
the former splendour of the abbey, in use and elegance, 
and sometimes with the profits arising from the abbey 
lands. 

It also shut the door of charity against the impostor, 
the helpless, and the idle, who had found here their chief 
supply ; and gave rise to one of the best laws ever invented 
by human wisdom, that of each parish supporting its own 
poor. 

By the annihilation of abbots, the church lost its weight 
in parliament, and the vote was thrown into the hands of 
the temporal lords. • ' 

It prevented, in some degree, the extinction of families; 



336 HISTORY OF 

for, instead of younger branches becoming the votaries of 
a monastic life, they became votaries of hymen : hence the 
kingdom was enriched by population. It eased the people 
of a set of masters, who had for ages ruled them with a rod 
of iron. 

The hands of superstition were also weakened, for the 
important science of astrology, miracle, and divination, 
supported by the cell, have been losing ground ever 
since. 

It likewise recovered vast tracts of land out of dead 
hands, and gave an additional vigour to agriculture, un- 
known to former ages. The monk, who had only a tem- 
porary tenancy, could not give a permanent one ; therefore 
the lands were neglected, and the produce was small ; but 
these lands falling into the hands of the gentry, acquired an 
hereditary title. It was their interest to grant leases, for 
a superior rent ; and it was the tenant's interest to give 
that rent for the sake of security. Hence the produce of 
land is become one of the most advantageous branches of 
British commerce. 

Henry, by this zeizure, had more property to give away 
than any King of England since William the Conqueror, 
and he generously gave away that which was never his 
own. It is curious to survey the foundation of some of 
the principal religions that have taken the lead among 
men. 

Moses founded a religion upon morals and ceremonies, 
one half of which continues with his people to this 
day. 

Christ founded one upon love and purity ; words of 
the simplest import, yet we sometimes mistake their 
meaning. 

The Bishop of Rome erected his upon deceit and op- 
pression ; hence the treasures of knowledge were locked up, 
an inundation of riches and power flowed into the church, 



BIRMINGHAM. 337 

with destructive tendency. And Henry the VIII. built his 
reformation upon revenge and plunder; he deprived the 
head of the Romish see of an unjust power, for pronouncing 
a just decision, and robbed the members for being annexed 
to that head. Henry wished the world to believe what he 
believed himself, that he acted from a religious principle ; 
but his motive seems to have been savage love. Had 
equity directed when Henry divided this vast property, he 
would have restored it to the descendants of those persons, 
whose mistaken zeal had injured their families ; but his 
disposal of it was ludicrous — sometimes he made a free 
gift, at others he exchanged a better estate for a worse, and 
then gave that worse to another. 

I have met with a little anecdote which says, & that 
Henry being upon a tour in Devonshire, two men waited 
on him to beg certain lands in that county ; while they 
attended in the anti-room for the royal presence, a stranger 
approached, and asked them a trifling question; they 
answered, they wished to be alone — at that moment the 
king entered. They fell at his feet ; the stranger seeing 
them kneel, knelt with them. They asked the favour in- 
tended; the king readily granted it; they bowed; the 
stranger bowed also. By this time, the stranger perceiv- 
ing there was a valuable prize in the question, claimed 
his thirds : they denied his having any thing to do with 
the matter. He answered, he had done as much as they, 
for they only asked and bowed, and he did the same. The 
dispute grew warm, and both parties agreed to appeal to 
the king, who answered, he took them for joint beggars, 
therefore had made them a joint present. They were then 
obliged to divide the land with the stranger, whose share 
amouted to £240 per annum." 

The land formerly used for the Priory of Birmingham, 
is now the property of many persons. Upon that spot 
whereon stood one solitary house, now stand about four 

2 x 



338 HISTORY OF 

hundred. Upon that ground where about thirty persons 
lived upon the industry of others, about three thousand live 
upon their own. The place, which lay as a heavy burthen 
upon the community, now tends to enrich it, by adding 
its mite to the national commerce, and the national trea- 
sury. 

In 1775, I took down an old house of wood and plaister, 
which had stood two hundred and eight years, having 
been erected in 1567, thirty -one years after the dissolution 
of the abbies. The foundation of this old house seemed 
to have been built chiefly with stones from the priory ; 
perhaps more than twenty waggon loads ; these appeared 
in a variety of forms and sizes, highly finished in the 
Gothic taste, parts of porticos, arches, windows, ceilings, 
&c, some fluted, some cyphered, and otherwise orna- 
mented, yet complete as in the first day they were left by 
the chisel. The greatest part of them were destroyed 
by the workmen ; some others I used again in the fire- 
place of an under kitchen. Perhaps they are the only 
perfect fragments that remain of that venerable edifice, 
which once stood the monument of ancient piety, the 
ornament of the town, and the envy of the priest out of 
place. 

Clodshale's Chantry. 

It is an ancient remark, " the world is a farce." Every 
generation and perhaps every individual, acts a part in dis- 
guise ; but when the curtain falls, the hand of the historian 
pulls off the mask, and displays the character in its native 
light. Every generation differs from the other, yet all are 
right. Time, fashion, and sentiment, change together. 
We laugh at the oddity of our forefathers — our successors 
will laugh at us. 

The prosperous anvil of Walter de Clodshale, a native 
of this place, had enabled him to acquire several estates in 



BIRMINGHAM. 339 

Birmingham, to purchase the lordship of Saltley, commence 
gentleman, and reside in the manor-house, now gone to 
decay, though its traces remain, and are termed by common 
people, The Giants Castle. This man, having well pro- 
vided for the present, thought it prudent, at the close of 
life, to provide for the future : he therefore procured a 
license, in 1331, from William de Birmingham, lord of the 
fee, and another from the crown, to found a chantry at the 
altar in St. Martin's church, for one priest, to pray for his 
soul and that of his wife. 

He gave, that he might be safely wafted into the arms 
of felicity, by the breath of a priest, four houses, twenty 
acres of land, and eighteen -pence rent, issuing out of his 
estates in Birmingham. 

The same righteous motive induced his son Richard, in 
1348, to grant five houses, ten acres of land, and ten shil- 
lings rent, from the Birmingham estates, to maintain a 
second priest, who was to secure the souls of himself and 
his wife. The declaration of Christ, in that pious age, 
seems to have been inverted ; for instead of its being dif- 
ficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, 
it was difficult for him to miss it. We are not told what 
became of him who had nothing to give ! If the profits 
of the estate tended the right way, perhaps there was no 
great concern which way either^ Walter or Richard tended. 

The chantorial music continued two hundred and four 
years, till 1535, when Henry the VIII. closed the book, 
turned out the priests, who were Sir Thomas Allen and 
Sir John Green, and seized the property, valued at £5 Is. 
per annum. Permit me again to moralize upon this fashion- 
able practice of ruining the family for the health of the 
soul ; except some lawful creditor puts in a claim, which 
justice ought to allow, a son has the same right to an es- 
tate, after the death of his father, as that father had before 
him. 



340 HISTORY OF 

Had Walter and Richard taken equal care of their souls 
and their estates, the first might have been as safe as in 
the hands of the priest, and the last, at this day, have been 
the property of that ancient, and once noble race, of Arden, 
long- since in distress ; who, in 1426, married the heiress 
of their house. Thus a family, benefited by the hammer, 
was injured by the church. 

Had the hands of these two priests ministered to their 
wants, in the construction of tents and fishing-nets, like 
those of their predecessors, St. Paul and St. Peter, though 
their pride would have been eclipsed, their usefulness 
would have shone, and the world have been gainers by 
their labour. Two other lessons may be learnt from this 
little ecclesiastical history. 

The astonishing advance of landed property in Birming- 
ham : nine houses and thirty acres of land, two hundred 
and fifty years ago, were valued at the trifling rent of 
£4 9s. 6d., one of the acres, or one of the houses, would 
at this day bring more. We may reasonably suppose they 
were under-rated ; yet, even then, the difference is amazing. 
An acre, within a mile of Birmingham, now sells for about 
one hundred pounds, and lets from three pounds to five, 
some as high as seven. 

And the nation so over swarmed with ecclesiastics, that 
the spiritual honours were quickly devoured, and the race 
left hungry; they therefore fastened upon the temporal, 
Hence we boast of two knighted priests. 

John-a- Dean's Hole. 

At the bottom of Digbeth, about thirty yards north 
of the bridge, on the left, is a water course that takes 
in a small drain from Digbeth, but more from the ad- 
jacent meadows, and which divides the parishes of Aston 
and Birmingham, called John-a-Dean's Hole ; from a 
person of that name who is said to have lost his life there 



BIRMINGHAM. 341 

and which, I think, is the only name of antiquity among 
us. 

The particle de, between the christian and surname, is 
of French extraction, and came over with William the I. 
It continued tolerably pure for about three centuries, when 
it in some degree assumed an English garb, in the particle 
of; the a therefore, is only a corruption of the latter. 
Hence the time of this unhappy man's misfortune may be 
fixed about the reign of Edward the III. 

Lench's Trust. 

In the reign of Henry the VIII., William Lench, a 
native of this place, bequeathed his estate for the purpose 
of erecting alms-houses, which are those at the bottom of 
Steelhouse Lane, for the benefit of poor widows, but 
chiefly for repairing the streets of Birmingham. After- 
wards others granted smaller donations for the same use, 
but all were included under the name of Lench ; and I be- 
lieve did not unitedly amount, at that time, to fifteen 
pounds per annum. 

Over this scattered inheritance was erected a trust, 
consisting of gentlemen in the neighbourhood of Birming- 
ham. 

All human affairs tend to confusion. The hand of care 
is ever necessary to keep order. The gentlemen, at 
the head of this charity, having too many modes of plea- 
sures of their own, to pay attention to this little juris- 
diction, disorder crept in apace; some of the lands 
were lost for want of inspection ; the rents ran in arrear, 
and were never recovered ; the streets were neglected, and 
the people complained. 

Misconduct, particularly of a public nature, silently 
grows for years, and sometimes for ages, till it becomes 
too bulky for support, falls in pieces by its own weight, 
and out of its very destruction rises a remedy. An order, 



342 history of 

from the Court of Chancery was obtained, for vesting the 
property in other hands, consisting of twenty persons, all 
of Birmingham, who have directed this valuable estate 
(which was in 1791, £300 per annum, and now, 1835, up- 
wards of £700) to useful purposes. The man who can guide 
his own private concerns with success, stands the fairest 
chance of guiding those of the public. 

If the former trust went widely astray, perhaps their 
successors have not exactly kept the line, by advancing 
the leases to a rack rent. It is worth considering whether 
the tenant of an expiring lease has not in equity, a kind of 
reversionary right, which ought to favour him with the 
refusal of another term, at one third under the value, in 
houses, and one fourth in land ; this would give stability 
to the title, secure the rents, and cause the lessee more 
cheerfully to improve the premises, which in time would 
enhance their value, both with regard to property and 
esteem. But where business is well conducted, complaint 
should cease, for perfection is not to be expected on this 
side the grave. 

There is an excellent clause in the devisor's will, order- 
ing his bailiff to pay half-a-crown to any persons, who, 
having quarrelled and entered into law, shall stop judicial 
proceedings, and make peace by agreement. He might 
have added, " and half-a-crown to the lawyer that will 
suffer them." If money be reduced to one fourth its value, 
since the days of Lench, it follows, that four times the 
sum ought to be paid in ours ; and perhaps ten shillings 
cannot be better laid out, than in the purchase of that 
peace which tends to harmonize the community, and weed 
a brotherhood not the most amicable among us. There 
are now, 1835, alms-houses built and supported by the 
funds vested in this trust, in Steelhouse Lane, containing 
forty-two rooms ; Dudley Street, thirty-eight ; Park Street, 
thirty-two ; and Hospital Street, thirty-four ; total number 



BIRMINGHAM. 343 

of apartments, one hundred and forty-six. Each room is 
occupied by one person, who receives £1 5s. annually, by 
quarterly instalments. The great age of the parties makes 
it necessary for them to have some one with them, or they 
do so from choice, so that the number of poor persons 
occupying these rooms is nearly doubled. The united ages 
of the one hundred and forty-six tenants, amounts to 
nearly twelve thousand. The average being about eighty. 
The most needy and the oldest applicants are preferred. 
The value of the trust, which has been augmented by 
sundry other bequests, is now about £700 per annum, 
with a prospect of considerable increase. 

The members choose annually, out of their own body, 
two bailiffs. 

Fentham's Trust. 

In 1712, George Fentham, of Birmingham, devised his 
estates by will, consisting of about one hundred acres, in 
Errington and Handsworth, of the value then of £20 per 
annum, vesting the same in a trust, of which no person 
could be chosen who resided more than one hundred yards 
from the Old Cross. We should be inclined to think the 
devisor entertained a singular predilection for the Old 
Cross, then in the pride of youth. But if we unfold this 
whimsical clause, we shall find it contains a shrewd inten- 
tion. The choice was limited within one hundred yards, 
because the town itself, in his day, did not in some direc- 
tions extend farther. Fentham had spent a life in Bir- 
mingham, knew well her inhabitants, and like some others, 
had found honour as well as riches among them. He 
knew also, he could with safety deposit his property in 
their hands, and was determined it should never go out. 
The scheme will answer his purpose. 

The uses of this estate, in 1781, about £100 per annum, 
are for teaching children to read, and for clothing ten poor 



344 HISTORY OF 

widows of Birmingham. Those children belonging to the 
Blue Coat Charity School, clothed in green, are upon this 
foundation. 

Crowley's Trust. 

Ann Crowley bequeathed by her last will, in 1733, six 
houses in Steelhouse Lane, amounting to £18 per annum, 
for the purpose of supporting a school, consisting of ten 
children. From an attachment to her own sex, she con- 
stituted over this infant colony of letters a female teacher. 
Perhaps we should have seen a female trust, had they been 
equally capable of defending the property. The income 
of the estate increasing, the children are now augmented 
to twelve. 

By a subsequent, clause in the devisor's will, twenty 
shillings a-year for ever, issues out of two houses in the 
Lower Priory, to be disposed of at the discretion of the 
trust. 

Scott's Trust. 

Joseph Scott, Esq. assigned, July 7, 1799, certain 
messuages and lands in and near Walmer Lane, in Bir- 
mingham, of the present rent of £40 ISs. part of the 
said premises to be appropriated for the interment of Pro- 
testant Dissenters ; part of the profits to be applied to the 
use of a religious society in Carr's Lane, at the discretion 
of the trust ; and the remainder for the institution ; of a 
school to teach the mother tongue. 

That part of the demise designed for the reception of 
the dead, is about three acres, upon which stands one 
messuage, now the Golden Fleece, joining Summer Lane 
on the west, and Walmer Lane on the east ; the other, 
which has Aston Street on the south, and Walmer Lane 
on the west, contains about four acres, upon which stood 
in 1780, ninety-one houses. A building lease, in 1778, 



BIRMINGHAM. 345 

was granted of these last premises for one hundred and 
twenty years, at £30 per annum ; at the expiration of 
which the rents will probably amount to twenty times the 
present income. 

Free School. 

It is entertaining to contemplate the generations of 
fashion, which not only influences our dress and manner 
of living, but most of the common actions of life, and even 
the modes of thinking 1 . Some of these fashions not meet- 
ing with the taste of the day, are of short duration, and 
retreat out of life as soon as they are well brought in ; 
others take a longer space ; but whatever fashions pre- 
dominate, though ever so absurd, they carry a imaginary 
beauty, which pleases the fancy till they become ridiculous 
with age, are succeeded by others, when their very memory 
becomes disgusting. 

Our ancestors, the Saxons, after their conversion to 
Christianity, displayed their zeal in building churches. 
Though the kingdom was in a few centuries amply supplied, 
yet that zeal was in no way abated ; it therefore exerted itself 
in the abbey. When a man of fortune had nearly done with 
time, he began to peep into eternity through the windows 
of an abbey ; or if a villain had committed a piece of 
butchery, or had cheated the world for sixty years, there 
was no doubt but he could buirow his way to glory through 
the foundations of an abbey. 

In 1383, the sixth of Richard the II., before the religious 
fervour subsided that had erected Deritend Chapel, Thomas 
de Sheldon, John Coleshill, John Goldsmith, and William 
att Slowe, all of Birmingham, obtained a patent from the 
crown to erect a building upon the spot where the Free 
School now stands in New Street, to be called the Gild of 
the Holy Cross ; to endow it with lands in Birmingham 
and Edgbaston, of the annual value of twenty marks, for 

2 Y 



340 HISTORY OF 

the maintenance of two priests, who were to perform divine 
service to the honour of God, our blessed Lady his mother, 
the Holy Cross, St. Thomas, and St.. Catherine. 

The fashion seemed to take with the inhabitants, many 
of whom wished to join the four happy men, who had 
obtained the patent for so pious a work; so that in 1393, 
a second patent was procured by the bailiff and inhabitants 
of Birmingham, for confirming the gild, and making the 
addition of a brotherhood in honour of the Holy Cross, 
consisting of both sexes, with power to constitute a master 
and wardens, and also to erect a chantry of priests to 
celebrate divine service in the chapel of the gild, for the 
souls of the founders, and all the fraternity ; for whose sup- 
port there were given, by divers persons, eighteen messuages, 
three tofts (pieces of ground) six acres of land, and forty 
shillings rent, lying in Birmingham and Edgbaston afore- 
said. 

But in the 27th of Henry the VIII., 1536, when it was 
the fashion of the day to multiply destruction against the 
religious and their habitations, the annual income of the 
gild was valued, by the king's random visitors, at the sum 
of £31 2s. lOd. out of which three priests who sung mass, 
had £5 6s. 8d. each; an organist, £3 135. 4f/. ; the common 
midwife, four shillings ; the bellman, six shillings and 
eightpence, for informing the brotherhood when the spit 
ceased to turn, with salaries of inferior note. 

These lands continued in the crown till 1552, the fifth 
of Edward the VI., when at the humble suit of the 
inhabitants, they were assigned to the bailiffs of the town, 
and nineteen other inhabitants of Birmingham, and their 
successors, to be chosen upon death or removal, by the 
appellation of the bailiff and governors of the Free Gram- 
mar School of King Edward the VI., for the instruction of 
children in grammar ; to be held of the crown in common 
soccage, paying for ever twenty shillings per annum. Over 



BIRMINGHAM. 34 T 

this seminary of learning were to preside a master and 
usher, whose united income seems to have been only twenty 
pounds per annum. Both were of the clergy. The hall of 
the gild was used for a school room. In the glass of the 
windows was painted the figure of Edmund Lord Ferrers, 
who marrying about three hundred and sixty years ago, 
the heiress of the house of Birmingham ; resided upon the 
manor, and seems to have been a benefactor to the gild, 
with his arms, empaling Belknap ; and also those of Staf- 
ford of Grafton, of Birmingham, and Byron. 

The gild stood at that time at a distance from the town, 
surrounded with inclosures ; the highway to Hales Owen, 
now New Street, running by the north. No house could 
be nearer than those in the High Street. 

The first erection, wood and plaister, which had stood 
about three hundred and twenty years, was taken down in 
1707, to make way for another building, which was re- 
moved in 1832, to erect the present Gothic structure. 
Several houses in New Street and Peck Lane were pur- 
chased, and removed to enlarge the site for the present 
building, which now occupies the whole space, fronting 
New Street, from the Hen and Chickens to Peck Lane. 
The lands that support this foundation, which were at the 
time the charter was granted, Jan. 2, 1552, valued at £21, 
are, by the increase of the town, the advance of landed 
property, &c., worth six or seven thousand per annum. 
The property lies in the most populous and most improving 
situations, and by the falling in of leases, is calculated to 
produce in 1850, not less than double its present value, 
and, before the expiration of the present century, the 
enormous sum of £50,000 per annum. There is scarcely 
a principal street, that more or less of this property does 
not lie in. New Street, High Street, Union Street, Bull 
Street, Dale End, Moor Street, Edgbaston Street, Spiceall 
Street, Bull Ring, Digbeth, Park Street, Chapel Street, 



348 HISTORY OF 

Coleshall Street, Broad Street, Summer Lane, Pinfold 
Street, and other minor, but improving situations. 

A part of the twenty self-elected governors, and perpetual 
corporation, who presided over the increasing funds of this 
institution, in the latter part of the reign of Charles the II. 
surrendered the charter into the hands of the king, and 
James the II. granted a new one, Feb. 20, 1685. The 
remainder of the governors, however, commenced proceed- 
ings in chancery, and recovered the original charter. 
The Lord Chancellor, in 1723, issued a commission to 
inspect the conduct of the governors, which they disputed, 
considering themselves quite irresponsible. The matter 
was therefore heard in the Hilary Term, 1725. The 
governors argued their non-responsibility, but the court 
decided against them. The original seal, about this time, 
was disused, aud the one at present in use adopted. The 
old one was lost, but has since been restored, and is 
now in the possession of the governors. John Milward, 
in 1654, bequeathed an estate in Bordesley, containing 
about fifty-two acres and twenty-nine perches, commonly 
called Hen's Farm, situated at the back of Camp Hill, and 
held at this time by James Taylor, Esq. at the annual rent 
of £26 ; and also a public house, known by the name 
of the Red Lion, supposed to have stood in Deritend ; but 
the present governors are unable to teil where — it is in fact 
completely lost. The Warwick Canal runs through this 
property, and the company pays to the tenant the sum of 
£31 1 5s. 9d. annually, for about five and half acres occupied 
by them. The intentions of the donor have never been 
complied with, which were to send a scholar to Brazen-Nose 
College, Oxford, alternately, from Birmingham and Haver- 
fordwest, providing £8 13s. 4d. annually to be paid to the 
principal and fellows of Brazen -Nose College, Oxford, 
to be laid out upon the maintenance and education of one 
scholar. £8 13s. id. to the school at Haverford and the 



BIRMINGHAM. 



349 



like sum to the schoolmaster at Birmingham. It appears 
that the money paid from time to time for a renewal of the 
lease, with the rent, have been generously pocketed by the 
parties, but the duties forgotten. It has been customary 
to renew the lease by fine, every seven years. In 1816 
Mr. Cooke received £158 17s. for a renewal of the lease 
for seven years, and in 1822, the same sum for a lease of 
twenty -one years duration. By what right the late 
head master thus gave away, for tiventy-one years, con- 
trary to the usual custom, that which might not belong to 
him for twenty-one hours, and for the same sum, loo, 
received for a seven years lease, remains to be explained. 
These lands are worth, at a low estimate, £300 per annum. 
The land-tax, upon the whole of the estates, was pur- 
chased in 1802, for about £2000, and in 1810 the annual 
payment of twenty shillings yearly was redeemed for 
£25 15*. 6d. 

The present head master receives a salary of £400 per 
annum, with residence and accommodation for eighteen 
boarders, free of all rates, coals, candles, &c. A piece of 
land at the Sand Pits, nine acres let in plots, for gardens, 
at £186, and the governors pay him £15 15s. in com- 
pensation for a piece of land, taken to form a new street; 
independent of the above rents, the master occupies about 
a quarter of an acre as a garden for himself. The commis- 
sioners appointed to inquire into these charities, reported that 
it would much facilitate the objects of the governors, if the 
whole of this land was given up ; but the late head master, 
Mr. Cooke„ was unwilling to accede to this proposition. 
This land which would now let for a very large sum, if laid 
out for streets, and let for building, was granted to the 
master in 1676, then worth very little. He also receives 
the whole benefit of Milward's endowment, a piece of land 
leased at a nominal rent of £8 13s. 4rf. to James Taylor, 
Esq.; fity-two acres in extent, left for another purpose, by 



350 HISTORY OF 

the donor, with sundry other emoluments, amounting al- 
together to about £800 per annum. 

The second master has a fixed salary of £300 per annum, 
with house and accommodation for twelve boarders, with 
considerable emoluments, under the title of capitation 
fees, &c, which makes his place worth about £500 per 
annum. 

There are two assistants or ushers, one to each master, 
at fixed salaries of £200 per annum each, who also have the 
privilege of taking four boarders each. There is a writing 
master, and a drawing master at £100 per annum each. 
The lecturer of St. Martin's receives ten guineas per 
annum. The organist two guineas, and the pew cleaner 
ten shillings, alleged to be for pews kept for the use of 
the governors. There are ten exhibitions of £50 each, 
tenable for four years, open to either university. The 
candidates for exhibitions are examined by three masters 
of arts, from the two universities who receive a gratuity of 
fifteen guineas each, and a good dinner, for which the 
charity is charged upon the average £25. This was, formerly, 
considerably more, as a large company was invited, in 
addition to the governors and dependents of the charity. 
The governors are allowed £50 annually for the expenses 
of the visitation, by the present act of parliament, which 
may include this item of expenditure. The principal 
masters are required to be members of the established 
church, and of the university of Oxford or Cambridge, to have 
taken the degree of Master of Arts, and to be in holy 
orders, but are not allowed to hold any ecclesiastical office, 
where personal attendance cannot be dispensed with. The 
assistants are required to be members of the Established 
Church, and to have taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 
or Civil Law, at Oxford or Cambridge. The number 
of boys in the establishment is one hundred and fifteen, 
independent of a school, established 1738, situated 



BIRMINGHAM. 



351 



in Shutt Lane. The teacher of this school has £100 per 
annum, with house-rent, &c. In 1761 — four minor schools 
in different parts of the town were established, which were 
afterwards increased to eight, including two for the in- 
struction of girls. All these, except the one in Shutt Lane, 
were closed about the year 1825. The governors have 
the right to send sixty children to the National School in 
Pinfold Street, in lieu of £15 per annum, for ground rent for 
the land upon which the National School stands. W.Whately, 
Esq. receives £100 per annum, for his services as secretary, 
besides the emoluments arising out of law business, con- 
nected with the charity, he being solicitor to the governors. 
A friendly suit was commenced about 1824, between his 
majesty's attorney-general, at the relation of the governors 
against the bishop of the diocese, and the pedagogue and 
sub-pedagogue. This matter was referred to a master in 
chancery, who gave his report March 9, 1829, and his 
general report, 27th April, 1830. 

The whole of these proceedings were instituted with a 
view to obtain an act of parliament, which was introduced 
into the House of Commons in 1830, and finally passed 
into a law, with considerable modifications August 23, 
1831. The attempt to remove the school out of the town 
was successfully opposed, and many objectionable clauses 
either withdrawn or considerably altered. Great excite- 
ment was manifested during the agitation of this question, 
and a considerable number of petitions, were presented to 
both houses of parliament, from different classes of persons, 
one of which was signed by seven thousand mechanics and 
artizans. The inhabitants made out a clear case, and 
obtained the insertion of a clause, to pay £750 out of the 
charity funds, towards the expenses of the opposition. 
The governors are empowered to raise £50,000, either by 
sale or mortgage of the school estates, to build a new 
school upon the original site in New Street, to teach, in 



352 HISTORY OF 

addition to the learned languages, the arts and sciences, 
&c. Four schools are to be established before the year 
1840, in different parts of the town, for the education of 
poor children. £4000 are allowed for the establishment of 
these schools, and the expences are afterwards to be 
defrayed out of the funds of the charity. Persons may be 
elected governors, who are rated to the poor in Birming- 
ham, without being resident in the town. Governors are 
not allowed to be lessees, tenants at will, or assignees, or 
to hold under any lessee, assignee, or tenant at will. 
The accounts are to be published in June every year, in 
one newspaper. The masters are allowed retiring pen- 
sions, not exceeding one half their respective salaries. 
The expiration of one lease only, at Lady Day this year, 
1835, will add to the income of this charity, upwards of 
£1000 per annum. The property consists of forty-three 
front houses, forty-three back houses, and ten workshops, 
and is situated in Aston, Red Lion, and Vauxhall Streets ; 
and the leases that fall in at Lady Day, 1838, will pro- 
duce at least £3000 more, to the annual receipts. 

Governors of Free Grammar School, New Street. 

James Woolley, Esq. Rev. Anth. James Clarke. 

Theodore Price, Esq. Mr. W. C. Alston. 

Isaac Spooner, Esq. Sir Edward Thomasan. 

John K. Booth, M. D. Mr. John Walker. 

Mr. Isaac Anderton. Mr. R. W. Gem. 

Rev. L. Gardner, D. D. J. F. Ledsam, Esq. 

Mr. Richard Wood. Mr. Thomas Knott. 

Mr. George Barker. * 

James Taylor, Esq. * 

Mr. John Cope. ... * 

Head Master. — Rev. Francis Jeune, D. C. L. 

Second Master.— -Rev. Rann Kennedy, M. A. 



BIRMINGHAM. 353 

Assistants. 
Rev Francis Freer Clay, M.A.— George Hall, Esq., B.A. 

Writing Master, Mr. Dowries. 

Charity School, commonly called the Blue School. 

There seems to be three classes of people, who demand 
the care of society ; infancy, old age, and casual infirmity. 
When a man cannot assist himself, it is necessary he 
should be assisted. The first of these only is before us. 
The direction of youth seems one of the greatest concerns in 
moral life, and one that is least understood : to form the 
generation to come, is of the last importance. If an 
ingenious master hath flogged the ABC into an innocent 
child, he thinks himself worthy of praise. A lad is too 
much terrified to march that path, which is marked out by 
the rod. If the way to learning abounds with punishment, 
he will quickly detest it ; if we make his duty a task, we 
lay a stumbling-block before him that we cannot surmount. 
We rarely know a tutor succeed in training up youth, who 
is a friend to harsh treatment. 

Whence it is, that we so seldom find affection subsisting 
between master and scholar? From the moment they 
unite, to the end of their lives, disgust, like a cloud, rises 
in the mind, which reason herself can never dispel. The 
boy may pass the precincts of childhood, and tread the 
stage of life upon an equality with every man in it, except 
his old schoolmaster; the dread of him seldom wears off; 
the name of Bushby sounded with horror for half a 
century after he had laid down the rod. I have often been 
delighted when I have seen a school of boys break up ; 
the joy that diffuses itself over every face and action, shews 
infant nature in her gayest form — the only care remaining 
is, to forget on one side of the walls what was taught on the 
other. One would think, if coming out gives so much 
satisfaction, there must be something very detestable 
within. 

2 z 



354 HISTORY OF 

If the master thinks he has performed his task when he 
has taught the boy a few words, he as much mistakes his 
duty as he does the road to learning. This is only the 
first stage of his journey. He has the man to form for 
society with ten thousand sentiments. 

It is curious to enter one of these prisons of science, and 
observe the master without authority, the children without 
order; the master scolding-, the children riotous. We 
never harden the wax to receive the impression. They act 
in a natural sphere, but he in opposition : he seems the 
only person in the school who merits correction ; he, unfit 
to teach, is making them unfit to be taught. 

A man does not consider whether his talents are adapted 
for teaching, so much, as whether he can profit by teaching. 
Thus, when a man hath taught for twenty years, he may 
be only fit to go to school. 

To that vast group of instructors, therefore, whether in, 
or out of petticoats, who teach without having been taught ; 
who mistake the tail for the seat of learning, instead of the 
head ; who can neither direct the passions of others nor 
their own. Tt may be said, " Quit the trade, if bread can 
be procured out of it. It is useless to pursue a work of 
error ; the ingenious architect must take up your rotten 
foundation before he can lay one that is solid." 

But to the discerning few, who can penetrate the secret 
windings of the heart; who know that nature may be 
directed, but can never be inverted ; that instruction 
should ever coincide with the temper of the instructed, or 
we sail against the wind ; that it is necessary the pupil 
should relish both the teacher and the lesson ; which, if 
presented like a bitter draught, may easily be sweetened to 
his taste. To these valuable few, who, like the prudent 
florist, possessed of a choice root, cultivate it with 
care, adding 1 improvement to every generation ; it may be 
said, " Banish tyranny out of the little dominions over 



BIRMINGHAM. 



355 



which you are absolute sovereigns ; introduce in its stead 
two of the highest ornaments of humanity — love and 
reason." Through the medium of the first, the master 
and the lesson may be viewed without horror ; when the 
teacher and the learner are upon friendly terms, the scholar 
will rather invite than repel the assistance of the master. 
By the second, reason, the teacher will support his full 
authority. Every period of life in which a man is capable 
of attending to instruction, he is capable of attending to 
reason. This will answer every end of punishment, and 
something more. Thus, an irksome task will be changed 
into a friendly intercourse. 

This school, by a date in the front, was erected in 1724, 
and considerably enlarged in 1794, in St. Philip's church- 
yard ; is a plain, airy, and useful building, ornamented over 
the door with the figures of a boy and a girl in the uniform 
of the school, and executed with a degree of elegance, that 
a Roman statuary would not have blushed to own. 

This artificial family consists of about two hundred 
scholars of both sexes, over which preside a governor 
and governess, both single. Behind the apartments is a 
large area, appropriated for the amusement of the infant 
race, necessary as their food. Great decorum is preserved 
in this little society, who are supported by annual contri- 
bution, and by collections made after sermons twice a year. 

At fourteen, the children are removed into the commercial 
world, and often acquire an affluence that enables them to 
support that foundation which formerly supported them. 

It is worthy of remark, that those institutions which are 
immediately upheld by the temporary hand of the giver, 
flourish in continual spring, and become real benefits to 
society ; while those which enjoy a perpetual income, are 
often tinctured with supineness and dwindle into obscurity. 
The first usually answers the purpose of the living, the last 
seldom that of the dead. 



356 HISTORY OF 

Many bequests and donations have at various times 
enriched this charity, but the supineness of the committee 
has suffered one of their own body to put into his pocket 
£1279 19*. 8d. of the funds belonging to the charity, about 
as much money as would educate, clothe, and feed thirty- 
one poor children, for four years, this being about the 
average length of time the children remain in the school. 
This infamous transaction has just been brought to light, 
and may serve as a warning to every other charitabe insti- 
tution, to look well to their funds, and to those who have 
any thing to do with them. The present master, Mr. 
Josiah Jaques ; matron, Mrs. Hawkes. 

Dissenting (Iharity School. 

Situate in Park Street, established by the Unitarian 
Protestant Dissenters about 1760. Now devoted to poor 
female children only, who are educated, clothed, and fed, 
and qualified for places of service. They are received into 
the school, about the age of nine to twelve. The number 
about forty, who are nominated by the subscribers. The 
children are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. 

The annual subscriptions seem to be willingly paid, 
thankfully received, and judiciously expended. 

Deaf and Dumb Institution. 
A suitable and convenient building, erected by Lord 
Calthorp, upon part of his estate, in the parish of Edg- 
baston in Calthorp Street, containing accommodation for 
forty children of both sexes, with play-grounds, master's 
residence, &c. established in Dec. 1812. The present 
building was erected in 1814, and entered upon Jan. 4, 
1815. Deaf and dumb children from all parts of the 
kingdom are eligible. The parents or guardians of the 
children are expected to pay at least four shillings per week 
for board and lodgings, and to find them suitable clothing. 
The pupils are admitted between the ages of eight and 



BIRMINGHAM. 357 

thirteen. The expenses, over and above what is paid by 
the parents, are defrayed by private subscription, the pro- 
ceeds of a bazaar, conducted by the ladies of the neighbour- 
hood, and charity sermons. A matron superintends the 
domestic department, and a committee of ladies attend to 
the employment of the girls. The science of instructing 
deaf and dumb persons was first introduced to the in- 
habitants of Birmingham, by the late Dr. De Lys, in a 
lecture delivered by him at the Philosophic Institution, 
in 1812; he illustrated his subject by the introduction of 
a little girl, eight years of age, who had been deaf and 
dumb from her birth. The audience was so impressed 
with the importance of the subject, that a society was 
immediately formed, to impart the benefits of this improve- 
ment in science to all who might stand in need. Mr. 
Thomas Braidwood, grandson, of the celebrated master of 
that name, in Edinburgh, who founded in this country the 
art of instructing the deaf and dumb, was appointed first 
master to this establishment. Mr. Louis Du Puget is the 
present head master, whose general knowledge of the art 
renders- him highly valuable to the institution. A public 
examination of the children takes place annually in October, 
at the general meeting of subscribers, who nominate the 
children, generally about ten, to be admitted to fill up 
vacancies. Visitors may inspect the asylum between the 
hours of twelve and one daily. 

Lancasterian School. 

Situated in Severn Street, conducted upon the principles 
of Joseph Lancaster, viz. that of mutual instruction, 
established Sept. 11, 1809. One master directs the whole 
school, assisted by monitors, selected from the boys. 
They are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. The 
whole of the pupils practice writing on slates, and about 
one third write in books. The useless practice of exer- 



358 HISTORY OF 

cising the younger boys in writing upon sand, has been 

discontinued many years. Each child pays one penny per 

week. The school-room is large, calculated to hold many 

more children than have been attached for some years, with 

a large yard in front. 

The average number of children upon the books, for the 

year 1833, was two hundred and sixty-seven and the 

average number of boys in attendance was two hundred 

and four. The present master, Mr. William Elliott. 

There is a school upon the same principles for females, in 

Ann Street. 

National or Madras School. 

Established in the year 1813, upon a system introduced 
by Dr. Bell, which differs but little from the Lancasterian, 
both having- for their object, to give the first rudiments of 
education at the smallest possible cost. This establish- 
ment is entirely in the hands of the clergy, and friends of 
the established church, and the pupils regularly attend 
on Sunday, for the purpose of going to church. The Lan- 
casterian school is supported mostly by dissenters, and it 
is said that the National system was introduced to prevent 
the rapid progress the dissenters were making, but, be this 
at it may, we must not find fault with any thing that adds 
to the sum of human improvement, be the motives that 
produced it what they may. The school is a lofty and 
spacious brick-building situated in Pinfold Street, an- 
ciently Le Pynfolde, upon land belonging to the free 
grammar school. The ground floor is used for the boys, 
and the upper story for the girls. The matron resides 
upon the premises. Plain needlework is executed by the 
female children for hire. The children pay one penny per 
week. The number of boys and girls about five hundred. 
There is another school upon this system at Ashted. 

The Welsh Charity 
Supports ten children in the blue coat school. Founded 



BIRMINGHAM. 359 

March 1, 1824, to assist in educating and clothing children 
of Welsh parentage, in Warwickshire or the neighbouring 
counties. 

Infant School, 

The general thirst for education, of late years, has given 
rise to several improvements. The formation of the infant 
mind, so very important an object to be achieved, has not 
been neglected ; and the labours of many persons of con- 
siderable talent, have been solely directed to develope and 
mature a plan upon which to establish infant schools, where 
two objects might easily be attained, viz. to keep young 
children, whose parents were required to attend to do- 
mestic or other occupations, during the day, cheerfully and 
usefully employed, and to impart in the earliest period of 
existence the foundation for a future education. This 
object was begun in Birmingham in 1825, and has been 
attended with many beneficial results. The principal 
school is in Ann Street ; some other schools are also 
established upon this plan, one at Islington, one at St. 
George's, and one in Cherry Street. The schools are sup- 
ported by voluntary contributions, besides twopence per 
week, expected to be paid by the parents of each child. 
The institution is superintended by a committee of ladies. 
The average attendance one hundred and fifty at the prin- 
cipal school, or about three hundred and fifty at the whole. 

New Jerusalem Church Free School. 

Established in 1833, for the instruction of children upon 
the most improved principles, and to give them as good an 
education as they are capable of receiving, discarding the 
old plan, where the master is paid according to the par- 
ticular branch of knowledge taught, measuring the intel- 
lects of the pupil, by the length of the parent's purse. 
Many are the instances that I have been personally ac- 
quainted with, where the pupil has remained at school year 



360 HISTORY OF 

after year at the weekly sum of sixpence or eigntpence, 
learning to read, to repeat like a parrot so many words of 
spelling, or, at the most, to write. He sees his more fa- 
voured schoolfellow, his junior by some years, proceeding 
with the other branches of knowledge, he feels the full force 
of his situation, with all the degradation attendant upon 
his parents inability to pay one shilling, or one shilling and 
fourpence per week. Experience proves that much more 
maybe taught to children of tender years than is generally 
supposed, and it is a well known fact, to all who have had 
experience, that the less the pupil is advanced, the more 
trouble attends his instruction ; that is, if he have the 
attention he require. I have no hesitation in saying, 
that a child may be taught to write, and to understand 
the first principles of arithmetic and grammar, before 
it is master of the first primer. This school is supported 
by voluntary subscriptions. A small payment is required 
from each child. The number of pupils about two 
hundred ; conducted by the minister, the Rev. E. Madely. 

General Education of the Working Classes. 

The people of Birmingham will be found, generally 
speaking, as well, if not better informed, than any popu- 
lation of the same amount in the three kingdoms. The 
rich and endowed free school, which has at its disposal 
funds sufficient to educate at least as many pupils as all 
the other establishments together, contributes but in a 
small proportion to the general stock of knowledge. For 
out of a number of fifteen thousand, eight hundred, and 
eighty pupils educated gratuitously in Birmingham, only 
about one hundred and eighty are instructed upon this 
foundation, and only a small proportion even of these, are 
of that class intended to be benefited by the royal founder, 
who endowed this rich and increasing establishment with 
lands that never justly belonged to him. The property 



BIRMINGHAM. 



361 



was placed in the hands of a perpetual corporation, who, 
instead of appropriating the increasing funds to extend the 
objects of the founder, have increased the salaries and 
emoluments of the masters to nearly £2000 per annum, 
and are now building a new school, under an act of parlia- 
ment passed August 23, 1831, at an expense, the common 
interest of which, would procure an excellent education 
for a succession of one thousand children. The education 
of the working classes is limited, in consequence of the 
children being- forced to go into the workshops as early as 
seven years of age, though the average is perhaps about 
nine. The instruction, now extensively given through the 
medium of Sunday schools, with the Lancasterian and 
national schools, is such that no child is without the means 
of learning, at least to read and write. Though, I am 
sorry to be obliged to say, a mistaken notion of the sanctity 
of the Sabbath has caused several denominations of Chris- 
tians, within the last few years, to discontinue altogether, 
their instruction in the arts of writing - and arithmetic, 
confining the pupils to reading only, upon the Sunday. 
Most of the societies alluded to, teach these arts in the 
week nights, but, from various causes, this cannot be so 
effectually done in this way. Many places where they do 
teach these things on a Sunday, have evening classes for 
mutual or other instruction. 

Workhouse. 

During the long reign of the Plantagenets in England, 
there were not many laws in the code then existing for the 
regulation of the poor; distress was obliged to wander 
for a temporary and uncertain relief : — idleness usually 
mixed with it. 

The nobility then kept plain and hospitable houses, where 
want frequently procured a supply ; but as these were 
thinly scattered, they were inadequate to the purpose. 

3 a 



362 HISTORY OF 

As the abbey was much more frequent, and as a great 
part of the riches of the kingdom passed through the hands 
of the monk, and charity being consonant to the profession 
of that order, the weight of the poor chiefly lay upon the 
religious houses ; this was the general mark of the indigent, 
the idle, and the imposter, who carried meanness in their 
aspect, and the words Christ Jesus in their mouth. Hence 
arise the epithets of stroller, vagrant, and sturdy beggar, 
with which modern law is intimately acquainted. It was 
frequently observed, that there was but a slender barrier 
between begging and stealing, that necessity seldom marks 
the limits of honesty, and that a country abounding with 
beggars, abounds also with plunderers. A remnant of this 
urgent race, so justly complained of, which disgrace society, 
and lay the country under contribution, are still suffered, 
by the supineness of the magistrate. 

When the religious houses, and all their property, in 
1536, fell a sacrifice to the vindictive wrath of Henry the 
VIII., the poor lost their dependence, and as want knows 
no law, robbery became frequent ; justice called loudly for 
punishment, and the hungry for bread ; which gave rise, in 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to that most excellent insti- 
tution, of erecting every parish into a distinct fraternity, 
and obliging them to support their own members ; there- 
fore it is difficult to assign a reason, why the blind should 
go abroad to see fresh countries, or the man ivithout feet 
to travel. 

Though the poor were nursed by parochial law, yet 
workhouses did not become general till 1730. That of 
Birmingham was erected in 1733, at the expense o 
£1173 3s. 5d., and which the stranger would rather sup- 
pose was the residence of a gentleman, than that of six 
hundred paupers. The left wing, called the infirmary, 
was added in 1766 at the charge of £400, and the right, 
a place for labour, in 1799, at the expense of £700 more. 






BIRMINGHAM. 363 

Let us a second time consider the 155,000 people who 
occupy this grand toy shop of Europe* as one great 
family, where, though the property of individuals is ascer- 
tained and secured, yet a close and beneficial compact sub- 
sists. We behold the members of this vast family marked 
with every stile of character. Forlorn infancy, accidental 
calamity, casual sickness, old age, and even inadvertent 
distress, all find support from that charitable fund erected 
by industry. No part of the family is neglected ; he that 
cannot find bread for himself, finds a ready supply ; he 
that can, ought. By cultivating the young suckers of 
infancy, we prudently establish the ensuing generation, 
which will, in the commercial walk, abundantly repay the 
expense. Temporary affliction of every kind also merits 
pity ; even those distresses which arise from folly, ought 
not to be neglected. The parish hath done well to many 
a man, who would not do well to himself. If imprudence 
cannot be banished out of the world, compassion ought 
not; he that cannot direct himself, must be under the 
direction of another. If the parish supported none but' 
the prudent, she would have but few to support. The last 
stage of human life demands, as well as the first, the help 
of the family. The care of infancy arises from an expec- 
tation of a return, that of old age from benefits already 
received. Though a man may have passed through life 
without growing- rich, he may, b}' his labour, have con- 
tributed to make others so ; though he could not pursue 
the road to affluence himself, he may have been the means 
of directing others to find it. 

The number of persons depending upon this weekly 
charity in Birmingham, were, April 14th, 1781, about 
five thousand two hundred and forty. 

Whether the mode of distributing the bounty of the 

* Burke 



364 



HISTORY OF 



community, is agreeable to the intentions of legislature, or 
the ideas of humanity, is a doubt. For in some parishes 
the unfortunate paupers have the additional misery of 
being sold to a mercenary wretch to starve upon twelve- 
pence a head It is matter of surprise that the magistrate 
should wink at this cruelty ; but it is a matter of pleasure, 
that no accusation comes within the verge of my historical 
remarks, for the wretched of Birmingham are not made 
more so by ill treatment, but meet with a kindness 
acceptable to distress. One would think that situation 
could not be so despicable, which is often wished for, 
and often sought, that of becoming one of the poor of 
Birmingham. 

We cannot be conversant with parochial business, with- 
out observing a littleness predominant in most parishes, 
by using every finesse to relieve themselves of paupers, 
and throwing them upon others. Thus the oppressed, 
like the child between two fathers, is supported by 
neither. 

There is also an enormity, which, though agreeable to 
law, can never be justified by the rules of equity — That a 
man should spend the principal part of his life in a parish, 
add wealth to it by his labour, form connexions in it, bring 
up a family which all belong to it, but having never gained 
a settlement himself, shall in old age be removed by an 
order, to perish among strangers. In 1768, a small 
property fell into my hands, situated in a neighbouring 
village ; I found the tenant had entered upon the premises 
at the age of twenty-two ; that he had resided upon them, 
with poverty and a fair character, during the long space of 
forty-six years. I told him he was welcome to spend the 
residue of his life upon the spot gratis. He continued 
there ten years after, when finding an inability to procure 
support from labour, and meeting with no assistance from 
the parish in which he had been resident for an age, he 



BIRMINGHAM. 365 

resigned the place with tears, in 1778, after an occupation 
of fifty-six years, and was obliged to recoil upon his own 
parish, about twelve miles distant, to be farmed with the 
rest of the poor; and where, he afterwards assured me, 
" they were murdering him by inches." — But no com- 
plaint of this ungrateful kind lies against that people whose 
character I draw. 

Perhaps it may be a wise measure, in a place like 
Birmingham, where the manufactures flourish in continual 
sunshine, not to be over strict with regard to removals. 
Though it may be burdensome to support the poor of 
another parish, yet perhaps it is the least of two evils. To 
remove old age which has spent a life amongst us, is un- 
generous; to remove temporary sickness, is injurious to 
trade ; and to remove infancy is impolitic, being upon the 
verge of accommodating the town with a life of labour. 
It may be more prudent to remove a rascal than a pauper. 
Forty pounds has been spent in removing a family, which 
would not otherwise have cost forty shillings, and whose 
future industry might have added many times that sum to 
the common capital. The highest pitch of charity, is that 
of directing inability to support itself. Idleness suits no 
part of a people, neither does it find a place here ; every 
individual ought to contribute to the general benefit, by 
his head or his hands. If he is arrived at the western 
verge of life, when the powers of usefulness decline, let him 
repose upon his fortune ; if no such thing exists, let him 
rest upon his friends, and if this prop fail, let the public 
nurse him with a tenderness becoming humanity. 

We may observe, that the manufactures, the laborious 
part of mankind, the poor's rates, and the number of 
paupers, will everlastingly go hand in hand ; they will 
increase and decrease together; we cannot annihilate one, 
but the others will follow, and odd as the expression may 
sound, we become rich by payment and poverty. If we 



366 HISTORY OF 

discharge the poor, who shall act the laborious part ? Stop 
the going out of one shilling, and it will prevent the 
coming in of two. 

At the introduction of the poor laws, under Elizabeth, 
twopence halfpenny in the pound rent was collected every 
fortnight for future support. Time has since made an 
alteration in the system, which is now six-pence in the 
pound, and collected as often as found necessary. The 
present levy, 1791, amounts to above £14,000 per annum, 
but is not wholly collected. As the overseers are gene- 
rally people of property, payment in advance is not 
scrupulously observed. It was customary at the beginning 
of this admirable system of jurisprudence, to constitute 
two overseers in each parish ; but the magnitude of Bir- 
mingham pleaded for four, which continued till the year 
1720, when a fifth was established. In 1729 they were 
augmented to half a dozen ; the wishes of some, who are 
frighted at office, rise to the word dozen, a number very 
familiar in the Birmingham art of reckoning ; twelve 
overseers, and about one hundred and sixteen guardians, 
elected triannually, now preside over this establish- 
ment. 

From the annual disbursements in assisting the poor, 
which I shall here exhibit from undoubted evidence, the 
curious will draw some useful lessons respecting the increase 
of manufactures, of population, and of property. 

No memoirs are found prior to 1676. 
Year. 



1676 
1677 
1678 
1679 
1680 
1681 



Disbursed. 


Year. 


£. s. d. 




328 17 7 


1682 


347 9 10 J 


1683 


398 8 GJ 


1684 


omitted 


1685 


342 11 2} 


1686 


363 1.5 7 


1687 



Disbursed. 


£. 


s. 


d. 


337 


2 


8J 


410 


12 


1 


451 





H 


324 


2 


8 


338 


12 


11 


343 


15 


6 





BIRMINGHAM. 


3t>7 


Year. 


Disbursed. 


Year. 


Disbursed . 




£. s. d. 




£. s. d. 


1688 


308 17 9J 


1721 


1024 6 6i 


1689 


395 14 11 


1722 


939 18 Oi 


1690 


396 15 2§ 


1739 


678 8 5 


1691 


354 1 5J 


1740 


938 6 


1692 


360 41 


1742 


888 1 \i 


1693 


376 12 3§ 


1743 


799 6 1 


1694 


423 12 1J 


1744 


851 12 5! 


1695 


454 2 1J 


1745 


746 2 7 


1696 


385 8 11J 


1746 


1003 14 91 


1697 


446 11 5 


1747 


1071 7 3 


1698 


505 2| 


1748 


1175 8 7i 


1699 


592 11 2 


1749 


1132 11 71 


1700 


661 7 4i 


1750 


1167 16 6 


1701 


487 13 


1751 


1352 8i 


1702 


413 14 0J 


1752 


1355 6 4 


1703 


476 13 10 


1756 


3555 18 31 


1704 


555 11 Hi 


1757 


3402 7 2i 


1705 


510 10 


1758 


3306 12 5 


1706 


519 3 6 


1759 


2708 9 5f 


1707 


609 4i 


1760 


3221 18 7 


1708 


649 15 9 


1761 


2935 4 li 


1709 


744 17 Oi 


1762 


3078 18 2i 


1710 


960 8 8i 


1763 


3330 13 Hi 


1711 


1055 2 10 


1764 


3963 11 Oi 


1712 


734 11 


1765 


3884 18 9 


1713 


674 7 6 


1766 


4716 2 101 


1714 


722 15 6i 


1767 


4940 2 2 


1715 


718 2 1 


1768 


4798 2 5 


1716 


788 3 2i 


1769 


5082 9 


1717 


764 6! 


1770 


5125 13 2i 


1718 


751 2 4 


1771 


6132 5 10 


1719 


1094 10 7 


1772 


6139 6 51 


1720 


950 14 


1773 


5584 18 8i 



3GS 






HISTORY OF 








Year. 


Disbursed. 


Year. 


Disbursed. 




£. 


s. 


d. 




£. 


s. 


d. 


1774 


6115 


17 


11 


1807 


22632 


7 


1 


1775 


6509 


10 


10 


1808 


21758 


10 


10 


1776 


52034 


[ S 


ii 

2 


1809 


18606 


1 


1 


1777 


6012 


5 


5 


1810 


21856 


8 


9 


1778 


6866 


10 


8* 


1811 


20957 


12 


5 


1779 


8081 


19 


n 


1812 


33026 


17 


5 


1780 


9910 


4 


nf 


1813 


41957 


10 


3i 


1781 


11605 


19 


9 


1814 


36943 


19 


Hi 


1782 


10943 


10 


3 


1815 


55674 


17 


n 


1783 


13744 


5 


55 


1816 


41418 


17 


101 


1784 


13,103 2 


Dq 


1817 


52735 


19 


4 


1785 


11569 


11 


5f 


1818 


61928 


3 


8f 


1786 


11860 


17 


H 


1820 


5822 [ 








1787 


11132 


16 


Ql 
V 2 


1823 


36154 








1788 


11823 


17 


8g 


1825 


39976 








1789 


14714 


8 


7 


1827 


47477 








1790 


16035 


15 


Hf 


1828 


47245 








1791 


16010 


13 


« 


1829 


48175 








1792 


12945 





« 


1830 


50028 


16 


11 


1793 


14067 


7 


2i 


1831 


52721 


13 


H 


1794 


21461 


16 


*4 


1832 


54774 


1 


10i 


1795 


20732 


9 


2i 


1833 


45629 


19 


7 


1796 


24050 


14 


1* 


1834 


44312 


4 


31 


1806 


19136 


18 


2 


1835 









These sums are for the above years, ending at Lady Day. 

We cannot pass through this splendid edifice without 
being pleased with its internal economy ; order influences 
the whole, nor can the cleanliness be exceeded ; but I am 
extremely concerned that I cannot pass through without 
complaint. There are evils in common life which admit 
of no remedy ; but there are very few which may not be 
lessened by prudence. The modes cf nursing infancy in 
this little dominion of poverty, are truly defective. It is 



BIRMINGHAM. 3G9 

to be feared the method intended to train up inhabitants 
for the earth, annually furnishes the regions of the grave. 
Why is so little attention paid to the generation who are to 
tread the stage after us.? as if we suffered them to be cut 
off that we might keep possession for ever. The unfortu- 
nate orphan that none will own, none will regard : distress, 
in whatever form it appears, excites compassion, but par- 
ticularly in the helpless. Whoever puts an infant into the 
arms of decrepid old age, passes upon it a sentence of 
death, and happy is that infant who finds a reprieve. The 
tender sprig is not likely to prosper under the influence of 
the tree which attracts its nurture ; applies that nurture 
to itself, where the calls occasioned by decay are the most 
powerful. An old woman and a sprightly nurse, are 
characters as opposite as the antipodes. If we could but 
exercise a proper care during the first two years, the child 
would afterwards nurse itself; there is not a more active 
animal in the creation, no part of its time, while awake, is 
unemployed. Why then do we invert nature, and confine 
an animal to still life, in what is called a school, who is 
designed for action ? We cannot with indifference behold 
infants crowded into a room by the hundred, commanded 
perhaps by some disbanded soldier, termed a schoolmaster, 
who having changed the sword for the rod, continues much 
inclined to draw blood with his arms ,• where every indi- 
vidual not only re-breathes his own air, but that of another. 
The whole assembly is composed of the feeble, the afflicted, 
the maimed, and the orphan ; the result of whose confine- 
ment is a sallow aspect, and a sickly frame : but the paltry 
grains of knowledge gleaned up by the child in this barren 
field of learning, will never profit him twopence in future ; 
whereas, if we could introduce a robust habit, he would 
one day be a treasure to the community, and a greater to 
himself. Till he is initiated into labour, a good foundation 
for health may be laid in air and exercise. Whenever I 

3 B 



370 HISTORY OF 

see half a dozen of these forlorn innocents quartered upon 
a farm house, a group of them taking the air under the 
conduct of a senior, or marshalled in rank and file to 
attend public worship, I consider the overseer who directed 
it, as possessed of tender feelings. Their orderly attire 
and simplicity of manners, convey a degree of pleasure to 
the mind, and I behold in them the future support of 
that commercial interest, upon which they now lie as a 
burthen. 

If I have dwelt long upon the little part of our species, 
let it plead my excuse to say, I cannot view a human 
being-, however diminutive in stature, or oppressed in 
fortune, without considering / vieiv an equal. 

The Asylum 

For the infant poor, established in Summer Lane, in 
1797, is conducted by a committee of guardians and over- 
seers. The manufacture of pins, straw -plait, lace, &c, is 
carried on for the purpose of employing the children, whose 
labour produces a profit to the parish. There is a bath, 
garden, play-ground, school, and chapel connected with this 
institution. There are usually from two hundred to 
two hundred and fifty children in this parish family. 

Workhouse Bill. 

I have often mentioned an active spirit as the charac- 
teristic of the inhabitants of Birmingham. This spirit 
never forsakes them. It displays itself in industry, com- 
merce, inventiou, and internal government. A singular 
vivacity attends every pursuit till completed, or discarded for 
a second. The bubble of the day, like that at the end of 
a tobacco-pipe, dances in air, exhibits divers beauties, 
pleases the eye, bursts in a moment, and is followed up by 
another. 

There is no place in the British dominions easier to be 



BIRMINGHAM. 371 

governed than Birmingham, and yet we are fond of forging 
acts of parliament to govern her. 

There is seldom a point of time in which an act is not 
in agitation ; we fabricate them with such expedition, that 
we could employ a parliament of our own to pass them. But, 
to the honour of our ladies, not one of these acts is di- 
rected against them. Neither is there an instance upon 
record, that the torch of Hymen was ever extinguished by 
the breath of Marriot, in Doctors Commons. 

In the spring 1783, we had four acts upon the anvil. 
Every man of the least consequence becomes a legislator, 
and wishes to lend his assistance in framing an act ; so 
that instead of one lord, as formerly, we now, like the 
Philistines, have three thousand. 

An act of parliament, abstractly considered, is a dead 
matter; it cannot operate of itself; like a plaister, it must 
be applied to the evil, or that evil will remain. We vainly 
expect a law to perform the intended work ; if it does not 
we procure another to make it. Thus the canal, by one 
act in 1767, hobbled on like a man with one leg; but a 
second in 1770 furnished a pair. The lamp act, procured 
in 1 769, was worn to rags, and mended with another in 
1773; and this second which had been long out of repair, 
was patched by a third, in 1801 ; in 1812 the whole three 
were swept away, and in 1828, the last and present act 
was manufactured. 

We carry the same spirit into our bye-laws, and with 
the same success. Schemes have been devised, to oblige 
every man to pay levies : but it was found difficult to ex- 
tract money from him who had none. 

In 1754, we brought the manufacture of packthread into 
the workhouse, to reduce the levies ; — the levies increased. 
A spirited overseer afterwards, for the same reason, as if 
poverty was not a sufficient stigma, badged the poor. 
The levies still increased. 



372 HISTORY OF 

The advance of bread m 1756, induced the officers to 
step out of the common track, perhaps out of their know- 
ledge ; and, at the expense of half a levy, fit up an appa- 
ratus for grinding' corn in the house. Thus, by sacrificing 
half one levy, many would be saved. However, in the 
pursuit, many happened to be lost. In 1761, the ap- 
paratus was sold at a farther loss, and the overseers 
sheltered themselves under the charge of idleness against 
the paupers. 

In 1766, the spinning of mop-yarn was introduced, which 
might, with attention, have turned to account; but un- 
fortunately the yarn proved of less value than the wool. 

Others, with equal wisdom, were to ease the levies by 
feeding a drove of pigs, which, agreeable to their own 
nature ran backwards. Renting a piece of ground, by 
way of garden, which supplied the house with a pennyworth 
of vegetables for twopence, adding a few. cows and a 
pasture ; but as the end of all was loss, the levies in- 
creased. 

In 1780, two collectors were appointed, at fifty guineas 
each, which would save the town many a hundred ; — -still 
the levies increased. 

A petition was this sessions presented, for an act to 
overturn* the whole pauper system (for our heads are as 
fond of new fashions in parochial government, as in the 
hats which cover them) to erect a superb workhouse, at 
the expense of £10,000 with powers to borrow £15,000, 
which grand design was to reduce the levies one third. 
The levies will increase. 

The reasons openly alleged were, " The out-pensioners, 
which cost £7000 a year, are the chief foundation of our 
public grievances ; that the poor ought to be employed in 
the house, lest their morals become injured by the shops, 
which prevents them from being taken into family service ; 
and the crowded state of the workhouse." — But whether 



BIRMINGHAM. 373 

the pride of an overseer, in perpetuating- his name, is not 
the pendulum which set the machine in motion ? Or, 
whether a man, as well as a spider, may not create a place, 
and, like that— -fill it with himself? 

The bill directs, that the inhabitants shall choose a 
number of guardians by ballot, who shall erect a workhouse 
on Birmingham Heath ; a spot as airy as the scheme ; 
conduct a manufacture, and the poor; dispose of the present 
workhouse ; seize and confine idle or disorderly persons, 
and keep them to labour till they have reimbursed the 
parish all expenses. 

But it may be asked, Whether spending £15,000 is likely 
to reduce the levies ? 

Whether we shall be laughed at for throwing by a build- 
ing, the last wing of which cost a thousand pounds, after 
using it only three years ? 

Our commerce is carried on by reciprocal obligation. 
Every overseer has his friends, whom he cannot refuse to 
serve; nay, whom he may even wish to serve, if that 
service costs him nothing. Hence that over-grown monster 
so justly complains of, the weekly tickets; it follows, whether 
sixty guardians are not likely to have more friends to serve 
than six overseers? 

Whether the trades of the town, by a considerable manu- 
facture established at the workhouse, will not be deprived 
of their most useful hands ? 

. Whether it is not a maxim of the wisest men who have 
filled the office, " to endeavour to keep the poor out of the 
house, for if they are admitted, they become more charge- 
able ; nor will they leave it without clothing ? 

A workhouse is a kind of prison, and a dreadful one to 
those of tender feelings. Whether the health of an indi- 
vidual, the ideas of rectitude, or the natural right of our 
species, would not be infringed by a cruel imprisonment. 

If a man has followed an occupation forty years, and 



374 HISTORY OF 

necessity sends him to the parish, whether is it preferable 
to teach him a new trade, or suffer him to earn what he 
can at his old ? If we decide for the latter, whether he had 
better walk four hundred yards to business, or four miles ? 
His own infirmity will determine this question. 

If a young widow be left with two children, shall she 
pay a girl sixpence a week to tend them, while she earns 
five shillings at the shops, and is allowed two by the 
parish, or shall all three reside in the house, at the weekly 
expense of six, and she be employed in nursing them? If 
we again declare for the latter, it follows, that the parish 
will not only save four shillings a week, but the community 
may gain half a crown by her labour. 

Whether the morals of the children are more likely 
to be injured by the shops, than the morals of half the 
children in town; many of whom labour to procure levies 
for the workhouse ? 

Whether the morals of a child will be more corrupted in 
a small shop, consisting of a few persons, or in a large one 
at the workhouse, consisting of hundreds ? 

Whether the grand shop at Birmingham Heath, or 
at any heath, will train girls for service preferable to 
others ? 

Shall we, because the house has been crowded a few 
weeks, throw away £ 15,000, followed by a train of evils ? 
A few months ago I saw in it a large number of vacant 
beds. Besides, at a small expense, and without impeding 
the circulation of air, conveniency may be made for one 
hundred more. 

Did a manufacture ever prosper under a multitude of in- 
spectors, not one of which is to taste the least benefit? 

As public business, which admits no profit, such as 
vestry assemblies, commissions of lamps, turnpike meet- 
ings, &c. are thinly attended, even in town; what reason 
is there to expect a board two miles in the country ? 



BIRMINGHAM. 375 

The workhouse may be deemed The nursery of Bir- 
mingham, in which she deposits her infants for future 
service : the unfortunate and the idle, till they can be set 
upon their own basis ; and the decrepid, during the few 
remaining sands in their glass. If we therefore carry the 
workhouse to a distance, whether we shall not interrupt 
that necessary intercourse which ought to subsist between 
a mother and her offspring ? As sudden sickness, indica- 
tions of child-birth, &c. require immediate assistance, a life 
in extreme danger may chance to be lost by the length of 
the road. 

If we keep the disorderly till they have reimbursed 
the parish, whether we do not acquire an inheritance for 
life? 

We censure the officer who pursues a phantom at the 
expense of others ; we praise him who teaches the poor to 
live. 

All the evils complained of, may be removed by attention 
in the man; the remedy is not in an act. He therefore ac- 
cuses his own want of application, m soliciting government 
to do what he might do himself. Expenses are saved by 
private acts of economy, not by public acts of parliament. 

It has long been said, think and act ; but as our in- 
ternal legislators choose to reverse the maxim by setting 
up an extensive shop ; then seeking a trade to bring- in, 
perhaps they may place over the grand entrance, act and 
think. 

The act passed in 1783, was repealed, September 6th, 
1831, and a new act granted. Upon the 25th of March, 
every third year, one hundred and eight guardians, are to 
be elected, by the rate-payers assessed at £ 1 2 and upwards, 
and who must have paid up their rates. The meetings 
for the election of guardians or other purposes, must be ad- 
vertised in one or more newspapers, and upon the church 
doors, and they are to be held in the Town Hall. A per- 



37G HISTORY OF 

son rated at £20 is eligible to be elected a guardian. 
Twelve overseers are to be appointed annually, by two of 
his majesty's justices, six of them on or within fourteen 
days after the "25th March, and the other six on or within 
fourteen days after the 25th September. Landlords may 1 
compound for premises under the value of £12 per annum. 
If £5 or under, one third the rate will be taken. If above 
£5, and not exceeding £8, one half will be received ; above 
£8, and not exceeding £12, two thirds the rate must be 
paid. The levies are made after the rate of one shilling 
and sixpence in the pound, and five rates have been 
usually granted per annum. Guardians are empowered 
with the consent of the rate-payers to borrow £12,000 by 
sale or mortgage of lands, buildings, &c, of the parish, or 
upon the parish rates, to rebuild the workhouse. They 
are also empowered^ to grant building leases of the lands 
belonging to the parish, and to purchase other lands not 
exceeding five acres. The accounts must be published 
in some newspaper, in the month of June, every year. 

One remark should never be lost sight of, the more we 
tax the inhabitants, the sooner they will leave us, and 
carry off the trades. 

Old Cross. 

So called, because prior to the Welsh Cross ; before the 
erection of this last, it was simply called, the cross. 

The use of the market cross is very ancient though not 
equal to the market, for this began with civilization. 

Christianity first appeared in Britain under the Romans; 
but in the sixth century, under the Saxon government, it 
had made such an amazing progress, that every man 
seemed to be not only almost a Christian, but it was un- 
fashionable not to have been a zealous one. The cross of 
Christ was frequently mentioned in conversation, and 
afterwards became an oath. It was hacknied about the 




©EdjE) cia@s§= 



BIRMINGHAM. 



377 



streets, sometimes in the pocket, or about the neck ; some- 
times it was fixed upon the church, which we see at this 
day, and always hoisted to the top of the steeple. The 
rudiments of learning began with the cross ; hence it stands 
to this moment as a frontispiece to the battledore, which 
likewise bears its name. 

This important article of religion was thought to answer 
two valuable purposes, that of collecting the people, and 
containing a charm against ghosts, evil spirits, &c, with 
the idea of which that age was much infested. To ac- 
complish these singular ends, it was blended into the corn- 
man actions of life, and at that period it entered the market 
place. A few circular steps, from the centre of which 
issued an elevated pillar, terminating in a cross, was the 
general fashion throughout the kingdom ; and perhaps our 
Vulcanian ancestors knew no other for twelve hundred 
years, this being renewed about once every century, till the 
year 1702, when the old cross was erected, at the expense 
of £80 9s. Id. This was the first upon that spot ever 
honoured with a roof : the under part was found a useful 
shelter for the market people. The room over it was de- 
signed for the court leet, and other public business, which, 
during- the residence of the lords upon the manor, had 
been transacted in one of their detached apartments, yet 
in being; but after the removal of the lords, in 1537, 
the business was done in the Leather Hall, which occu- 
pied the whole east end of New Street, a covered gate- 
way of twelve feet excepted, and afterwards in the Old 
Cross. 

This- building was taken down in 1784, and now the 
inhabitants have the pleasure of sleeping over public 
business in a private bed-chamber. The materials were 
sold for £60, and the clock for £10, after being used 
eighty-two years: — about £10 9s. \d. less than their 
original cost. 

3 c 



378 HISTORY OF 

Welsh Cross. 

If a realfer, fond of antiquity, should object that I have 
comprised tv%a?icient state of Birmingham in too small a 
compass, and t&at I ought to have extended it beyond the 
fifty-second page — I answer, when a man has not much to 
say, he ought to be hissed out of authorship, if he picks 
the pocket of his friend by saying much ; neither does 
antiquity end with that page, for in some of the chapters 
I have led him through the mazes of time, to present him 
with a modern prospect. 

In erecting a new building, we generally use the few 
materials of the old as far as they will extend. Birming- 
ham may be considered as one vast and modern edifice, of 
of which the ancient materials make but a very small 
part : the extensive new seems to surround the minute old, 
as if to protect it. 

Upon this spot, now the juncture of Bull Street, Dale 
End, and High Street, probably stood a finger-post, to 
direct the stranger that could read, for there were not 
many, the roads to Wolverhampton and Lichfield. 

Though the ancient post and the modern cross, might 
succeed each other, yet this difference was between them, 
one stood at a distance from the town, the other near its 
centre. 

By some antique writings it appears, that two hundred 
years ago this spot bore the name of the Welsh End, 
perhaps from the number of Welsh in its neighbourhood, 
or rather from its being the great road to that princi- 
pality, and was at that time the extremity of the town, odd 
houses excepted. This is corroborated by a circumstance 
I have twice mentioned already, that when Birmingham 
unfortunately fell under the frowns of Prince Rupert, 
at the battle of Birmingham, 1643, and he determined 
to reduce it to ashes for succouring an enemy, it is reason- 




'WIIK.'DIE C-5IV5'S3 



BIRMINGHAM. 379 

able to suppose he began at the exterior, which was then 
in Bull Street, about twelve houses above the cross. 

If we were ignorant of the date of this cross, the style of 
the building- itself would inform us, that it rose in the 
beginning- of the last century, and was designed, as popula- 
tion increased, for a Saturday market ; yet, although it was 
used in some degree for that purpose, the people never 
heartily adopted the measure. 

In a town like Birmingham, a commodious market-place, 
with which we have just been supplied, will be extremely 
useful. Efforts were used to make one, of a large area, once 
a bowling-green, in Corbet's Alley, now Union Street ; also 
some other places have been mentioned ; but I am persuaded 
the market people would suffer the grass to grow in it as 
peaceably as in their own fields. We are not easily drawn 
from ancient custom, except by interest. 

For want of a convenient place where the sellers might 
be collected into one point, they were scattered into various 
parts of the town. Corn was sold by sample in the Bull 
Ring ; the eatable productions of the garden, in the same 
place. Butchers' stalls occupied Spiceal Street ; one would 
think a narrow street was preferred, that no customer 
should be suffered to pass by. Flowers, shrubs, &c, at the 
ends of .Philip Street and Moor Street ; beds of earthen- 
ware lay in the middle of the foot ways ; and a double 
range of insignificant stalls, in the front of the shambles, 
choak up the passage. The beast market was kept 
in Dale End; that for pigs, sheep, and horses, in New 
Street : cheese issued from one of our principal inns, 
and afterwards from an open yard in Dale End ; fruit, 
fowls, and butter, were sold at the Old Cross ; nay, it 
is difficult to mention a place where they were not. 
We may observe, if a man has an article to sell which 
another wants to buy, they will quickly find each other 
out. 



380 HISTORY OV 

Though the market inconveniences were great, a man 
seldom brought a commodity for the support of life, 
or of luxury, and returned without a customer. Yet 
even this crowded state of the market, dangerous to 
the feeble, had its advantages. Much business was 
transacted in a little time ; the first customer was obliged 
to use dispatch, before he was justled out by a second. 
To stand all the day idle in the market place, is not known 
among us. 

The upper room of this cross, was appropriated for a 
military guard house. We find, December 16, 1723, an 
order made at a public meeting, " That a guard house 
should be erected in a convenient part of the town, because 
neither of the crosses were eligible." But this old order, 
like some of the new, was never carried into execution. 
As no complaint lies against the cross in our time, we 
may suppose it suitable for the purpose ; and I know none 
but its prisoners that pronounced against it. The pillory, 
stocks, and whipping post, were fixed against it. It was 
removed in 1803, to widen the street. 

General Hospital. 

Though charity is one of the most amiable qualities of 
humanity, yet, like Cupid, she ought to be represented 
blind ; or, like justice, hoodwinked. None of the virtues 
have been so much misapplied ; giving to the hungry, is 
sometimes only another word for giving to the idle. We 
know of but two ways in which this excellence can exert 
itself; improving the mind, and nourishing the body. To 
help him who will not help himself; or, indiscriminately 
to relieve those that want, is totally to mistake the end ; 
for want is often met with ; but to supply those who ca?inot 
supply themselves, becomes real charity. Some worthy 
Christians have taken it into their heads to relieve all, for 



BIRMINGHAM. 38 1„ 

fear of omitting the right. What should we think of the 
constable who seizes every person he meets with, for fear 
of missing the thief? Between the simple words, therefore, 
of will not and cannot, runs the fine barrier between 
real and mistaken charity. 

This virtue, so strongly inculcated by the christian 
system, has, during the last seventeen centuries, appeared 
in a variety of forms, and some of them have been detri- 
mental to the interest they were meant to serve ; Such teas 
the cloister. Man is not born altogether to serve himself, 
but the community ; if he cannot exist without the assist- 
ance of others, it follows, that others ought to be assisted 
by him ; but if condemned to obscurity in the cell, he is 
then "fed by the aid of the public, while that public derives 
none from him. 

Estates have sometimes been devised in trust for par- 
ticular uses, meant as charities by the giver, but have, in 
a few years, been diverted out of their original channel to 
other purposes. The trust themselves, like so many con 
tending princes, ardently struggle for sovereignty ; hence, 
legacy and discord are intimate companions. 

The plantation of many of our English schools sprang 
up from the will of the dead ; but it is observable, that 
sterility quickly takes place ; the establishment of the 
master being properly secured, supineness enters, and the 
young scions of learning are retarded in their growth. It 
therefore admits a doubt, whether charitable donation is 
beneficial to the world ; nay, the estate itself becomes 
blasted when bequeathed to public use, for being the freehold 
of none, none will improve it ; besides the more dead land, 
the less scope for industry. 

At the reformation, under Queen Elizabeth, charity 
seemed to take a different appearance ; employment was 
found for the idle ; he that was able, was obliged to labour, 
and the parish was obliged to assist him who could not 



.382 HISTORY OF 

Hence the kingdom was replete with workhouses ? these 
are the laudable repositories of distress. 

It has already been observed, that three classes of people 
merit the care of society; forlorn infancy, which is too 
weak for its own support ; old age, which has served the 
community, without serving itself; and accidental ca- 
lamity : the two first fall under the eye of the parish, 
the last under the modern institution of the General 
Hospital. 

The shell of this plain, but noble edifice, was erected in 
1766, upon a situation very unsuitable for its elegant front, 
in a narrow dirty lane, with an aspect directing up the hill, 
which should ever be avoided. The wings were added in 
1790. 

The amiable desire of doing good in the inhabitants, 
seemed to have exceeded their ability ; and, to the grief of 
many, it lay dormant for twelve years. In 1778, the 
matter was revived with vigour ; subscriptions filled apace, 
and by the next year the hospital was finished, at the 
expense of £7137 10s. Though the benefactions might 
not amount to this enormous sum, yet they were noble, 
and truly characteristic of a generous people. The annual 
subscriptions, as they stood at Michaelmas, 1779, were 
£901 195. and, at Midsummer, 1780, £932 8s. 

Benevolent donations increasing brought on an increase 
of patients, which demanded an increase of room. Two 
ample wings were therefore added in 1791, at the charge of 
£3016 10s. lOd. The subscriptions had by this time 
increased to £1293 per annum. 

The funds of this institution have been regularly aided 
by musical performances, usually held triennially, at St. 
Philip's Church, till 1834, when the meeting took place 
in the Town Hall, where they will in future be held. This 
mode of assisting- a charitable institution, of the greatest im- 
portance, was commenced in the year 1778, and continued 




THE DISPENSARY. 



BIRMINGHAM. 383 

for three days, for the joint benefit of St. Paul's Chapel, 
and the General Hospital. Thejsmall amount of £127 was 
the nett benefit to this institution. The festivals have been 
continued with increasing success to the present time, and 
have considerably aided the funds of this invaluable insti- 
tution. The following are the sums received from the 
commencement. , 



Date. 


Month. 


Gross Receipts. 


Nett Produce. 






£ 


s. 


d. 


£ s. d. 


1778 


September 











127 


1781 


» 











140 


1714 


)> 


1325 








703 


1787 


August 


1980 








964 


1790 


}> 


1965 


18 





958 14 8 


1796 


September 


2044 








897 


1799 


>> 


2544 








1470 O 


1'802 


» 


3820 


17 





2380 17 4 


1805 


October 


4222 


6 


4 


2202 17 11 


1808 


>> 


5511 


12 


2 


3257 19 8 


1811 


55 


6680 


2 


9 


3629 10 


1814 


}> 


7124 


12 





3131 15 2 


1817 


55 


8746 


6 


9 


4298 10 10 


1820 


55 


9483 


4 


7 


5001 10 11 


1823 


55 


11115 


9 


9 


5806 12 6 


1826 


55 


10104 


2 


11 


4592 3 11 


1829 


55 


9771 


4 


8 


3806 17 3 


1834 


55 


13278 


6 


2 






The rules by which this excellent charity is conducted, 
are worthy of its authors ; success hath fully answered 
expectation, and the building will probably stand for 
ages, to tell posterity a favourable tale of the present 
generation. 

Dispensary, 
Established in 1794, for the relief of the afflicted poor. 



384 HISTORY OF 

This edifice, which has ti stone front, is situated in Union 
Street; erected in 1808. There is an emblematical de- 
sign, sculptured in relief, over the principal front, executed 
by W. Hollins. The cost of the building was about 
£3000. Sick and midwifery patients, of the poorer 
classes, are visited at their own dwellings, upon the recom- 
mendation of a subscriber. A committee of governors, 
conduct the business of the institution. Six surgeons, and 
three physicians, give their services gratuitously. Between 
four and five thousand patients are administered to an- 
nually. Those patients who are not confined by their 
disorders, are required to attend at stated periods. There 
are two resident surgeons, a dispensing apothecary, and 
a midwife. Vaccine inoculation is performed gratis, without 
recommendation, on Mondays and Thursdays. 

Self- Supporting Dispensary. 

The expenses, as its name imports, is defrayed by those 
who receive relief, a small sum being charged for each 
ticket. The object of the institution is to encourage the 
provident portion of the labouring classes, who may not be 
able to pay a surgeon, to obtain medical aid without re- 
sorting to gratuitous institutions, and thereby support a 
spirit of independence. Patients are allowed to choose any 
of the surgeons to the institution, who supply the necessary 
medicines. The tickets are sold by Mr. Allen, Bennetts 
Hill, and many other respectable shopkeepers, in various 
parts of the town. 

Fever Hospital, 

Situate at the corner of Bishopsgate Street, Bath Row, 
commenced in 1828, for the reception and recovery of 
persons afflicted with fever, contagious or otherwise. The 
house stands in a large garden, and possesses man- local 
advantages. The object in view is good, hut whether it 



BIRMINGHAM. 



385 



will answer the end for which it is intended, experience 
alone must prove. 

Institution for the Relief of Bodily Deformity, 

Commenced in 1817, supported by donations and annual 
subscriptions. Persons suffering under any distortion of 
the limbs, or by herniary complaints, will receive medical 
and surgical attention at No. 54, New Street, upon the 
recommendation of a subscriber. Surgeon to the institu- 
tion, Mr. Freer. Day of attendance, Wednesday. 

Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye, 

Established at No. 35, Cannon Street, in 1824, sup- 
ported by voluntary subscription. Attendance is given on 
Tuesdays and Saturdays, at one o'clock. Surgeons, 
Messrs. Hodson, Middlemore, and Ledsam. 

School of Medicine and Surgery, 

Was established in 1828, by the indefatigable exertions 
of Mr. W. S. Cox, surgeon. The resident physicians 
and surgeons lecture weekly, upon subjects connected with 
the design of the institution. Certificates of having at- 
tended these lectures qualify students to pass their 
examination at the London Royal College of Surgeons. 
This society have lately purchased extensive premises in 
Paradise Street, formerly a place of worship, and have 
appropriately fitted them up for the use of the establish- 
ment. They have an excellent museum and library. 
The specimens and books were chiefly presented by friends 
to the institution. 

Society of Arts, 

Was instituted in 1821 for promoting the general study of 
the fine arts, by procuring from the nobility and gentry who 
are its patrons, the loan of original pictures of the ancient 

3 D 



386 HISTORY OF 

and modern schools, in order to stimulate the genius and 
industry of its members, and to enrich their annual ex- 
hibition. The building is a chaste and elegant specimen 
of the Corinthian order, with a boldly projecting portico of 
four elegant columns, and is situated in the upper part of 
New Street. 

Philosophical Society 

Extended their plan, in 1810, and erected a commodious 
theatre for the delivery of lectures, by their own members, 
in Cannon Street, and occasionally by eminent professors 
in the various branches of science. They have a museum, 
containing a fine collection of minerals and fossils, an ex- 
tensive philosophical apparatus, a library, and a reading 
room. The theatre is also occupied weekly for the lectures 
of the Mechanics 5 Institution. 

Neios Room, 

Was built in 1825. It is a handsome edifice, with a 
cemented front, ornamented with lofty pillars, of the Ionic 
order. The interior consists of one large room, opening 
through folding doors, into smaller apartments, over which, 
are a billiard room and a refectory, and a suite of rooms 
has lately been added, in which copies of the public re- 
cords, and books of reference are deposited. 

Magdalen Asylum, Islington, 

Was established in 1828, for the purpose of restoring to 
society females who have wandered from the paths of 
virtue. This laudable institution is supported by private 
subscriptions. Much good has resulted from this Society, 
but it is to be lamented that a proportion of the inmates, 
amounting to nearly one half, return with renewed vigour 
to their old habits. 



BIRMINGHAM. 387 

Musical Performances, for the Relief of dgecl and 
Distressed Housekeepers, 

Take place annually, at Christmas, in the Town Hall, 
formerly held in St. Paul's Chapel. The whole of the per- 
formers act gratuitously, and the profit, after paying 
unavoidable expenses, is distributed in sums of five 
shillings each, to persons who may stand in need, and who 
are recommended by the performers. 

Savings'' Bank, 

Established 1827, to receive the savings of the indus- 
trious labouring classes. The deposits amount to a very 
considerable sum, and the object will, no doubt, fully 
answer the expectations of the projectors, if care be taken 
to secure the property. It is hoped that the ruinous con- 
sequences that have accrued, in many instances, from 
placing too much power, and too much confidence in one 
individual, be his station or character what it may, has 
been fully guarded against, in this establishment. The 
office is in Temple Row, and is open to depositors, on 
Mondays and Thursdays. 

Post Office, Bennet's Hill, 

Was considerably improved about the time this street 
was formed. The public are now accommodated with a 
piazza, unexposed to the weather, to transact their business. 
Great improvements have been made in this department, 
within the last few years ; and seven receiving nouses 
have been opened in various parts of the town. The 
London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Bristol mails, are 
now dispatched at eight o'clock, P. M., letters are received 
till seven, for these mails, and after, till fifteen minutes 
before the actual dispatch of each mail, upon the payment 
of one penny each letter extra. 



388 HISTORY OF 

Excise Office. 
Is in New Street, at the corner of Temple Street. 

Stamp Office. 

Is situated in Colmore Row, between Livery Street, and 
Church Street. 

Assay Office. 

Authorised by an act of parliament, passed in 1824, to 
mark all articles made of gold and silver, either in Bir- 
mingham, or within thirty miles, to prevent frauds in the 
working of those metals. The office is in Little Cannon 
Street, and is conducted by persons appointed under the 
act, called guardians of wrought plate. The sum of 
seventeen shillings per ounce is paid for gold, and one 
shilling and sixpence for silver; all articles above five 
penny weights, in silver, and all articles in sterling gold 
are required to be marked. 

Gun Barrel Proof House. 

Conducted by the guardian, trustees, and wardens, in- 
corporated by act of parliament, who consist of the 
lords-lieutenants of the counties of Warwick, Worcester, 
and Stafford, and the members of parliament for those 
counties, for the time being, with fifteen persons resident 
in Birmingham. 

The hall, with commodious premises, is situated in 
Banbury Street, where all barrels for fire arms are duly 
proved and marked, as the act directs. To forge the 
mark, or make fire arms without being duly proved, sub- 
jects the parties to the penalty of £20. The charge for 
proving does not exceed one shilling each barrel. A flag 
is hoisted from the building upon the days of proving. 




'._" 



BIRMINGHAM. 389 

Great quantities of gun and pistol barrels are sent to 
London to be proved, and are afterwards sold as London 
made. 

Cavalry Barracks 

The fashionable productions of the day. — Perhaps this 
military nursery was intended to preserve the chastity 
of the soldier, long in jeopardy ; or, to separate him from 
the inhabitant, which tends to make two interests, when, 
in reality, there is but one ; or perhaps, from a principle 
of economy, the cry of every man in power who runs into 
debt. 

Government took a lease of five acres of land adjoining 1 
the north side of the town (late the property of the Holt 
family, now that of Legge) at a penny a yard ; and in 
1793 erected the barracks, at the charge of £13,000. 
They will accomodate one hundred and sixty-two men. 

As the man who loves his country will rejoice at every 
saving system to lighten the load of three hundred millions, 
I shall state the account with precision. 

Annual rent £100 

Interest upon £13,000 - - - - 650 
Loss of principal per annum on the average 

during the lease of eighty years - 162 10 

Perhaps there will not, at a medium, be more than two 
thirds of one hundred and sixty-two men, or one hundred 
and eight accommodated. 

We may reasonably suppose £6000 will be expended, at 
least, during the term, in wear and tear of furniture, 
alterations, and repairs of buildings. This principal also 
of £6000, and half the interest, which is £150 per annum, 
must be sunk. When all these numbers are added to- 
gether, it will appear that every man's lodging stands the 
country in about eleven pence a night, or six shillings and 
five pence a week. Half this sum united to the slender 



390 



HISTORY OF 



pay of the private soldier, would recruit the army with 
men instead of old age and children, and that without 
pressing or purchase • the landlord would then welcome 
the soldier with a smile, whom he now receives with a 
frown. 

Nelsons Statue. 

In the centre of the Old Market Place, facing the church, 
and near the New Market Hall, stands the statue erected 
by the inhabitants in honour of the great naval hero of 
England, the late Admiral Lord Nelson. It is exceedingly 
well executed in bronze, by that eminent statuary, West- 
macott ; and with the pedestal, palisades, and lamps, cost 
about £3000, which was raised by voluntary subscriptions. 

The work was opened to the public on the 25th of 
October, 1809, the day on which was celebrated the jubilee 
of his late Majesty King George the III. The following 
is an authorised description of it. — 

" In this work, intended to perpetuate the greatest ex- 
ample of naval genius, simplicity has been the chief object 
in the arrangement. The hero is represented in a reposed 
and dignified attitude, his left arm reclined upon an an- 
chor : he appears in the costume of his country, invested 
with the insignia of these honours by which his sovereign 
and distant princes distinguished him. To the right of 
the statue is introduced the grand symbol of the naval 
profession ; victory, the constant leader of her favourite 
hero, embellishes the prow. To the left is disposed a sail, 
which, passing behind the statute, gives breadth to that 
view of the composition. Above the ship, is the fac-simile 
of the flag staff truck of the L'Orient, fished up by Sir 
Samuel Hood, the day following the battle of the Nile, 
presented by him to Lord Nelson, and now deposited at 
Milford, as a trophy of that ever-memorable action. This 
group is surmounted upon a pedestal of statuary marble. 



BIRMINGHAM. 391 

A circular form has been selected, as best adapted to the 
situation. 

" To personify that affectionate regard which caused the 
present patriotic tribute to be raised, the town of Birming- 
ham, murally crowned, in a dejected attitude, is represented 
mourning her loss ; she is accompanied by groups of 
genii, or children, in allusion to the rising race, who offer 
her consolation by bringing her the trident and rudder. 
In front of the pedestal is the following inscription : — 

This statue, in honour of Admiral Lord Nelson, was 
erected by the inhabitants of Birmingham, A.D. mdcccix. 

" The whole is inclosed by iron pallisades, in the form of 
boarding pikes, connected by a twisted cable. At each 
of the four corners is placed a cannon, from which issues 
a lamp post representing a cluster of pikes, supporting a 
ship lantern." 

Mr. Joseph Farror of this town, at his decease, be- 
queathed twenty-six shillings annually, to be paid out of 
rents arising- from a house in Bradford Street, for keeping 
the basement of this statue clean, to be paid to the 
Beadle of St. Martin's. Query — Has the salary been 
received ? The public know the duty has not been per- 
formed ? 

Deritend Bridge. 

Cooper's Mill, situated upon the verge of the parishes of 
Aston and Birmingham, four hundred yards below this 
bridge, was probably first erected in the peaceable ages of 
Saxon influence, and continued a part of the manorial 
estate till the disposal of it in 1730. 

Before the water was pounded up to supply the mill, it 
must have been so shallow, as to admit a passage between 
Digbeth and Deritend, over a few stepping stones ; and 
a gate seems to have been placed upon the verge of the 
river, to prevent encroachments of the cattle. This 



392 HISTORY OF 

accounts for the original name, which Dugdale tells us 
was Derry-yate-end : derry, low; yate, gate; end, ex- 
tremity of the parish ; with which it perfectly agrees. 

The mill afterwards causing the water to be dammed 
up, gave rise to a succession of paltry bridges, chiefly of 
timber, to preserve a communication between the two 
streets. But in latter ages, the passage was dignified with 
those of stone. In 1750, a wretched one was taken down, 
and another erected by Henry Bradford and John Collins, 
overseers of the highwav, consisting of five arches ; but the 
homely style, the steep ascent, and the circumscribed width, 
prevented encomium. 

In 1788, an act was obtained to rebuild the bridge, to 
alter the course of the river, to widen its bed, and im- 
prove its banks. The bridge was rebuilt in 1789, but 
the act expired before the whole was accomplished that 
was intended ; and left the trustees some thousands of 
pounds in debt. The trustees applied to parliament 
for an extension of the term, which the inhabitants op- 
posed and frustrated. The works therefore remained 
incomplete, till a new act was obtained, in 1813, which 
empowered the trustees to repay the money originally 
borrowed, and complete the improvements. The bridge 
was soon after increased in length, at both ends. The 
road was made considerably wider, and the bridge orna- 
mented with cast-iron balustrades. Toll gates were 
fixed upon Deritend, Cheapside, Bradford, and Lawley 
Street bridges, to defray the expenses. Another act was 
obtained in 1822, which superseded the former one, to 
widen the lower part of Digbeth, and to repair and 
enlarge Bradford and Cheapside bridges. This act gave 
the trustees power to continue the tolls till 1830, but 
they were discontinued August 27, 1828, the whole of the 
objects having been accomplished. 



BIRMINGHAM. 393 

Mechanics Institution, 

Established in 1825, to give instruction at a cheap rate 
to the labouring classes, in Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, 
Trigonometry, Drawing, &c. And by the establishment 
of a library of reference, circulating library, reading room, 
museum of machines, models, specimens of the mineral 
and animal kingdoms ; aided by weekly lectures to give 
such general knowledge of the application of the arts and 
sciences, as would be useful to the prosecution and im- 
provement of the various manufactures of the kingdom. 
These establishments are, in fact, an extension only of the 
benevolent and praiseworthy plans pursued by the projectors 
and supporters of Sunday Schools. Their claim to 
originality is without foundation, as the objects contem- 
plated have been pursued with considerable success, for 
a series of years, by the Unitarians of Birmingham. The 
c Artizan's Library' now held by a miscellaneous pro- 
prietary, was originally established to promote the same 
objects sought by Mechanics' Institutions, by gentlemen 
connected with the above society of Christians. 

The Latin and French languages, with reading, writing, 
arithmetic, and the higher branches of the mathematics, 
are taught by competent masters. Weekly lectures are 
delivered either by professional persons, or gentlemen 
connected with the Institution. The rate of subscription 
for an adult, is three shillings per quarter, paid in advance, 
and one shilling and sixpence for the junior members. It 
is contemplated to erect a suitable building for this 
Society, as soon as funds can be raised for that purpose. 

The Birmingham Fire Office, 
Established March 25, 1805. The Company consists 
of three hundred shares of £1000 each, although only 
£220 have been paid upon each share, every share is liable 

3e 



394 HISTORY OF 

for £1000. The office which was erected in 1808/is in 
Union Street. This building, which is fronted with stone, 
cost with engine house, firemen's houses, and stables, 
nearly £4,000. There are now a variety of branches of 
other Life and Fire Insurance Offices in Birmingham, almost 
too numerous to mention. The rates of insurance from 
fire, are according- to the nature of the property, from two 
shilling's and sixpence to four shillings and sixpence per 
£100 per annum, payable half-yearly. Fires are by no 
means so prevalent in Birmingham, as they are in some 
other places, and when they do unfortunately occur, they 
are mostly confined to manufactories, and seldom destroy 
dwelling houses. I recollect but one dwelling-house being 
totally destroyed, accidentally by fire, within the last 
fifteen years. 

This may easily be accounted for, the mode of living- 
here being very different from that of most large towns, 
almost every house is in the occupation of one family, or 
if more than one dwell in a house_, the upper stories are but 
seldom used for the purpose of cooking, &c, as they are in 
London, Manchester, and some other large towns. 

Gas Works. 

There are two companies to supply the town with gas. 
The first company incorporated 1819, by act of parliament. 
The works are situated in Gas Street, Broad Street, and 
near the Worcester Canal. The other, incorporated in 
1825, called the Birmingham and Staffordshire Gas Light 
Company. This company is empowered to light all places 
in the counties of Warwick and Stafford. The works are 
at West Bromwich, and the offices are in the Old Square, 
Birmingham. The charge for gas at this time, is ten 
shillings per thousand cubic feet, computed by a metre, 
fixed by the company upon the premises. The charge 
was for many years twelve shillings per thousand 



BIRMINGHAM. 395 

feet, but in consequence of a new company being announced 
the others have thought it prudent to lower the price. 
Nearly all our public shops, inns, public houses, and a 
great number of manufactories are lighted with gas. The 
town and the roads for some miles out in several directions 
are well lighted by the same means. The whole line of 
road from Birmingham to West Bromwich, a distance- of 
six miles is lighted with gas. 

Beardsworth's Repository and Carriage Marl. 
The largest and most complete establishment of the kind 
in the kingdom. The building is situated in the upper 
part of Cheapside, extending to Mosely Street. Previous 
to the erection of the Town Hall, there was no place in 
Birmingham where any considerable number of persons 
could meet under cover, except this Repository, and the 
owner always lent them willingly for the purpose of public 
meetings. The building has held nearly four thousand 
persons to dinner, which will give some idea of the extent 
of the place, for which see pages 111 and 156. 

So/w Manufactory, 8fc. 

" At the northern extremity of the parish of Birmingham, 
but in the adjoining parish of Handsworth, and county of 
Stafford, is a hill called Soho, at the foot of which stands 
the far-famed Manufactory of that name, adjacent to the 
mansion and grounds, which occupy the summit and de- 
clivities. 

" In the year 1757, John Wyrley, of Hamstead, Esq. 
Lord of the Manor of Handsworth, granted a lease for 
ninety-nine years of certain tracts of common land here, 
and certain inclosed lands, with liberty to make a cut for 
turning Hockley Brook and forming a pool, in order to the 
erection of a water mill. A small house and feeble mill 
for rolling metal, were consequently erected. Tn 1762, the 



306 HISTORY OK 

late Matthew Boulton, who then carried on a steel toy 
manufactory in Birmingham (the place of his nativity), 
purchased this lease, with all the premises and appur- 
tenances, for the purposes of his trade, and soon afterwards, 
having enlarged and increased the buildings, and rebuilt 
the mill, transplanted the whole of his manufactoiy from 
Birmingham to Soho ; but still further accommodation 
being requisite for the advancement of his great designs, 
Mr. Boulton therefore, in 1764, laid the foundation of the 
present noble manufactory, which was finished in the 
following year, at the expense of £9000. From that period 
he turned his attention to a greater variety of branches of 
manufacture ; and in conjunction with Mr. Fothergill, then 
his partner, established a mercantile correspondence 
throughout Europe. Impelled by an ardent attachment to 
the arts, and by the patriotic ambition of bringing his 
favourite Soho to the highest degree of perfection, the 
ingenious proprietor soon established a seminary of artists, 
for drawing and modelling; and men of genius were sought 
for and liberally patronised, whose exertions produced a 
successful imitation of the or-molu, in a variety of metallic 
ornaments, consisting of vases, tripods, candelabras, &c. 
manufactured with superior skill and taste. From this 
elegant branch of the business the artists were led, by a 
natural and easy transition, to that of wrought silver ; and 
other useful and ornamental arts gradually followed. 

Mr. Boulton finding from experience that the water 
power at Soho was insufficient for his purposes, though 
aided by the power of horses, in 1767 put up a steam 
engine, on Savery's plan, with the intention of returning 
and raising his water about twenty -four feet high ; but 
this proving unsatisfactory to him, he soon after formed an 
acquaintance with his subsequent partner and friend, 
James Watt, of Glasgow, who in 1765, had invented 
several valuable improvements upon the steam engine. 



BIRMINGHAM. 397 

which, in fact, made it a new machine. For these im- 
provements Mr. Watt had obtained a patent in January, 
1769, and afterwards came to settle at Soho, where in that 
year he erected one of his improved engines, and after full 
proof of its utility, obtained in 1775, a prolongation of the 
term of his patent for twenty-five years from that date. 
He then entered into partnership with Mr, Boulton, and 
they established at Soho a very extensive manufactory of 
these engines, which are now adapted to almost every 
mechanical purpose where great power is requisite. 

" The application of this improved steam engine at 
Soho to raise and return the water, extended the powers of 
the water mill, which Mr. Boulton therefore a second time 
rebuilt, upon a much larger scale, and several engines were 
afterwards erected here for other purposes, whereby the 
manufactory was greatly extended, the source of mechanical 
power being thus unlimited. 

" In order to obtain the desired degree of perfection in 
the manufacture of their steam engines, Messrs. Boulton 
and Watt established a large and complete iron foundry 
at Smethwick, a convenient distance westward from Soho, 
and having the advantage of communication with the 
Birmingham Canal. 

" The applicability of the steam engine to the purpose 
and various processes of coining, led to the erection here, 
in 1788, of a coining mill, which was afterwards much 
improved, and acquired great celebrity for efficiency and 
dispatch. 

" Previous to Mr. Boulton's engagement to supply 
Government with copper coin, in order to bring his appa- 
ratus to the greatest perfection, he exercised it in coining 
silver money for Sierra Leone and the African Company, 
and copper for the East India Company and Bermudas. 
Various beautiful medals were likewise struck here from 
time to time, for the purpose of employing ingenious 



398 HISTORY OF 

artists, and encouraging the revival of that branch of art, 
which in this kingdom had long been on the decline. 

" The penny and two-penny pieces of 1797, the half- 
pence and farthings of 1799, the pence, halfpence, and 
farthings of 1806 and 1807 (all of excellent pattern and 
workmanship), and we believe the whole of the copper 
coinage of George the Third, which forms the principal 
part of that now in circulation, issued from the Soho 
Mint ; at which the five shilling- bank tokens issued in 
1804 were also struck, and a coinage for the Russian go- 
vernment. 

" In a national view Mr. Boulton's undertakings were 
highly valuable and important. By collecting round him 
artists of various descriptions, rival talents were called 
forth, and by successive competition have been multiplied 
to an extent highly beneficial to the public. A barren 
heath has been covered with plenty and population, and 
these works, which in their infancy were little known or 
attended to, now cover several acres, give employment to 
some hundreds of persons, and are said to be the first 
of their kind in Europe. Mr. Boulton ultimately pur- 
chased the fee-simple of Soho and much of the adjoining 
land. 

" The liberal spirit and taste of the worthy proprietor 
was further exercised not only in the mansion, wherein 
he resided, but in the adjoining gardens, groves, and 
pleasure grounds, which, at the same time that they form 
an agreeable separation from the residence, render Soho, 
with its fine pool of water, a much-admired scene of pic- 
turesque beauty, where the sweets of solitude and retire- 
ment may be enjoyed, as if far distant from the busy 
hum of men. 

ie Two fine engravings, by Eginton, one of the manu- 
factory, and the other of the mansion, at Soho, are con- 
tained in the second volume of Shaw's History of Stafford- 



BIRMINGHAM. 399 

shire, from which work much of the foregoing account is 
abridged. 

" The elder Messrs. Boulton and Watt are now both 
deceased,* but the various manufactories are continued 
under several firms by the son of each, Matthew Robinson 
Boulton and James Watt. 

Besides the iron-foundry, the making of steam engines, 
copying machines, and fire-irons, the rolling of metals, &c. 
the principal heads of manufacture at this distinguished 
place are buttons, steel goods, plated and silver wares, 
toys, medals, &c. of which a splendid assortment may be 
inspected in the shew-rooms ; but it is understood that the 
manufactory is not, as heretofore, open to the gratification 
of the curious." 

Sir Edward Thomason's Manufactory , Church Street. 

Birmingham, famous for many things, can now boast of 
a knighted button maker, who is also vice-consul for 
France, Austria, Russia, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, 
Sweden, and Norway, with sundry other titles too numerous 
to mention. Thus it will be seen that the Brummagem 
buttons are not to be slighted, although they have formed 
a subject for ridicule, for all grades of society, from the 
shoeblack to the lady's maid, both in London and the 
country. 

Sir Edward's shew-rooms are considered to be the most 
complete of the kind in Birmingham, and not to be 
equalled by many in England. He has a splendid exhi- 

* "The late Mr. Boulton died in August, 1809, in his eighty-first year, 
and the late Mr. Watt, in August, 1819, at the age of eighty-three. They 
were both interred in the neighbouring Church of Handsworth, wherein 
monuments are placed to their memory. That of Mr. Watt is a fine piece 
of sculpture by Chantrey, being a full-length statue and likeness of the 
deceased, in a sitting position, elevated on a pedestal, and placed in an 
elegant gothic chapel erected for its reception." 



400 HISTORY OF 

bition of costly ornamental productions, in gold, silver, 
brass, and bronze, with a great variety of medals of the 
finest workmanship. 

Town Hall. 

Erected under the inspection of the Commissioners of 
the Street Act, passed 1828. This splendid building was 
erected from designs, drawn by Joseph Hansom, who in 
conjunction with Mr. Welsh, his partner, contracted for 
its erection, for the sum of £17,000, with about £1,700 
for extras. 

A steam engine was employed to saw the stone ; two 
hundred thousand bricks were made from the clay out of 
the foundation. A new species of machinery was con- 
structed by Mr. Hansom, to raise the principals of the 
roof whole, to the top of the building, a height of seventy 
feet from the outside of the building. An accident oc- 
curred in this operation by the hook of a pulley block 
breaking, which killed two workmen. They were interred 
in St. Phillip's church-yard, and a monument erected to 
their memory, by their employers and their fellow work- 
men. The monument consists of the base of one of the 
pillars, wrought by one of the sufferers, for the Hall. The 
ceiling was framed in compartments and lathed ready for 
fixing. The scaffold for the interior and ceiling were 
constructed upon a novel plan ; yet with all the economy 
that could possibly be used in the building, and in pro- 
curing materials for its erection, the parties became 
bankrupt, and were unable to finish the work, having 
undertaken it at about £4,000 less than ought to have 
been paid for its erection. The sureties have been obliged 
to pay the difference ; and Mr. Foster, of Liverpool, has 
been engaged to finish the work, which was in a very 
forward state at the time of the bankruptcy. The building 
was commenced on the 27th of April, 1832, and although 



BIRMINGHAM. 401 

prepared for the Musical Festival, in October, 1834, it 
was not finished till 1835. The external length of the 
building is one hundred and sixty feet, and the width 
about ninety feet. The internal length of the large 
Hall is one hundred and forty feet by sixty-five feet, and 
the height to the ceiling is sixty-five feet. The basement 
is twenty-three feet. There are thirty-two fluted Corin- 
thian columns, after an example of the Temple of Jupiter 
Stator at Rome, thirty-six feet high, and three feet six 
inches in diameter, which supports the entablature. The 
entablature is nine feet, and the pediment fifteen feet, 
making a total height of eighty-three feet to the acro- 
terum. The building is brick, faced with Anglesea 
marble, which is very hard and durable. An addition was 
made to the arcade, in front, without adding to the beauty of 
the work or much to the utility of it, contrary to the original 
design, which was to have been a single arched piazza, 
instead of a double one, as it now stands. The internal 
construction of the hall is convenient, and fully answers 
the expectations of the public. It is in fact considered 
the best Musical Hall in the kingdom. There is a 
narrow gallery on each side, and one of considerable 
depth at the east end. The west end is occupied by the 
organ and convenience for the performers. Fluted Corin- 
thian pilasters ornament the spaces between the windows. 
The ceiling is a chaste and splendid specimen of art, and 
universally admired. There are two tier of low corridors 
along each side of the building, communicating with the 
floor and the side galleries. The Hall was opened for 
the Musical Festival, in October, 1834, and has since 
been used for several concerts,- political, and other meet- 
ings. At the nomination of members for the borough, 
January 7, 1 835, the large gallery was so much crowded 
that the panneling in front gave way, and many persons 
were precipitated into the body of the hall. Several 

3 F 



402 HISTORY OF 

were severely hurt and many bruised. The hall will seat 
about four thousand persons, and will hold from eight 
to ten thousand standing. 

The Town Hall Organ. 

This truly magnificent instrument was built by Mr. Hill, 
of London. The term " built" is with propriety applied to 
this organ, which is thirty-five feet wide, fifteen feet thick, 
and forty-five feet high. 

It has four rows of finger keys, of six octaves each, ex- 
tending from C an octave below C C, to C in altissimo. 
The three lower rows, act as is usual in large organs, viz., 
on the choir organ, the great organ, and the swell, which 
descends to C C. The fourth, or upper row, has no pipes 
of its own, but any stop in the choir or swell may be played 
upon it, whether it is or is not drawn out for use on any 
other row of keys. To effect this, every stop in the choir 
organ and swell, has tivo draw-stops, one of which will 
cause it to sound from the usual finger keys, the other will 
cause the same pipes to sound from the upper or combina- 
tion row. 

A peal of small bells, which are fixed in the swell, are 
played on by the upper row of keys only; they have a 
novel, but not a very rich effect. Below the finger keys, 
and on a level with the floor, are two octaves of pedal keys. 
These act upon the corresponding finger keys of the choir 
and great organ at pleasure, and have besides, two open 
double diapason stops, the one wood, the other metal, 
which are played by them only. The largest pipe of each 
of these stops is thirty-two feet long, and sounds a note two 
octaves below C C. There are also two octaves of finger 
keys on the left of the great row, which act upon the 
pedals, thus enabling a second performer to take the bass 
part, without inconveniencing the principal performer by 
sitting: with him. 






BIRMINGHAM. 403 

These and many other combinations too numerous to 
mention, enable the performer to produce an almost endless 
variety of tone and power ; the mechanism by which they 
are accomplished is highly ingenious, and extremely com- 
plicated; yet unnecessary weight and friction have been so 
carefully avoided, that the touch is not unpleasantly stiff. 
The total number of stops is upwards of forty, but the 
draw-stops, from^the causes before mentioned, amount to 
upwards of sixty. The tone is sublime and soothing-, and 
not in the slightest degree harsh or coarse. The full effect, 
however, has not yet been heard, as from some strange 
delay, several of the reed stops have not yet (Feb. 1835) 
been put in their places. An inspection of the interior of 
this immense piece of mechanism is a high treat to every 
scientific person, and never fails to produce feelings of 
admiration and astonishment, with a deeper conviction of 
the extent and variety of those " capacious powers" that 
ff lie folded up in man." 

The organ is the property of the Governors of the 
General Hospital, and was built at their expense, (assisted 
by voluntary contributions,) for the use of the musical 
festivals. It is an honour to the builder, to its spirited 
proprietors, and to the town in which it stands. 

There are about one hundred pipes, from sixteen to 
thirty-two feet long. The total number, it is expected, 
will exceed six thousand. The longest metal pipe is 
thirty-five feet long, and 20| inches diameter, the foot of 
which weighs two hundred and twenty-four pounds. The 
principal pipe, has a cubical area of two hundred and 
seventeen feet. The timber required in the erection of the 
instrument was about twenty-five tons, and the metal 
about fifteen tons, making the total weight of the instru- 
ment about forty tons. The external design is by Mr. 
Mackenzie, which harmonizes with the style of the 
building. 



404 HISTORY OF 

Prison. 

If the subject is little, but little can be said of it ; I shall 
shine as dimly in this chapter on confinement, as in that 
on government. The traveller who sets out lame, will 
probably limp through the journey. 

Many of my friends have assured me, "that I must have 
experienced much trouble m writing- the history of Bir- 
mingham." But I assure them in return, that I range 
those hours among the happiest of my life ; and part of 
that happiness may consist in delineating the bright side 
of human nature. Pictures of deformity, whether of body 
or of mind, disgust — the more they approach towards 
beauty, the more they charm. 

All the chapters which compose this work were formed 
with pleasure, except the latter part of that upon births and 
burials ; there, being forced to apply to the parish books, 
I figured with some obstruction. Poor Allsop, full of 
good nature and affliction, fearful lest I should sap the 
church, could not receive me with kindness. When a 
man's resources lie, within himself, he draws at pleasure ; 
but when necessity throws him upon the parish, he draws 
in small sums, and with difficulty. 

I either have or shall remark, for I know not in what 
niche I shall exhibit this posthumous chapter, drawn like 
one of our sluggish bills, three months after date, " that 
Birmingham does not abound in villainy, equal to some 
other places ; that the hand employed in business has less 
time, and less temptation, to be employed in mischief; and 
that one magistrate alone, corrected the enormities of this 
numerous people, many years before I knew them, and 
twenty-five after." I add, that the ancient lords of 
Birmingham, among their manorial privileges, had the 
grant of a gallows, for capital punishment ; but as there 
are no traces even of the name in the whole manor, I am 






BIRMINGHAM. 405 

persuaded no such thing was ever erected, and perhaps the 
anvil prevented it. 

Many of the rogues among us are not of our own growth, 
but are drawn hither, as in London, to shelter in a crowd, 
and the easier in that crowd to pursue their game. Some 
of them fortunately catch, from example, the arts of 
industry;, and become useful ; others continue to cheat for 
one or two years, till frightened by the grim aspect of 
justice, they decamp. 

Our vile and obscure prison, termed The Dungeon, is a 
farther proof how little that prison has been an object of 
notice, consequently of use. 

Anciently the lord of a manor exercised a sovereign 
power in his little dominion ; held a tribunal on his 
premises, to which was annexed a prison, furnished with 
implements for punishment ; these were claimed by the 
lords of Birmingham. This crippled species of jurisprudence, 
which sometimes made a man judge in his own cause, 
from which there was no appeal, prevailed in the highlands 
of Scotland so late as the rebellion in 1745, when the 
peasantry by act of parliament, were restored to freedom. 

Early perhaps in the sixteenth century, when the house 
of Birmingham, who had been chief gaolers, were fallen, a 
building was erected, which covered the east end of New 
Street, called the Leather Hall ; the upper part consisted 
of a room about fifty feet long, where the public business 
of the manor was transacted. The under part was divided 
into several ; one of these small rooms was used for a 
prison; but about the year 1728, while men slept an 
enemy came, a private agent to the lord of the manor, and 
erased the Leather-hall and the Dungeon, erected three 
houses on the spot, and received their rents till 1776, when 
the town purchased them for £500, to open the way. A 
narrow passage on the south will be remembered for half a 
century to come, by the name of the Dungeon-entry. 



406 HISTORY OF 

A dry cellar, opposite the demolished hall, was then ap- 
propriated for a prison, till the town of all bad places chose 
the worst, the bottom of Peck-lane ; dark, narrow, and 
unwholesome within ; crowded with dwellings, filth, and 
distress without, the circulation of air is prevented. 

As a growing" taste for public buildings has for some 
time appeared among us, we might, in the construction of 
a prison, unite elegance and use ; and the west angle of 
that land between New Street and Mount Pleasant, might 
be suitable for the purpose ; an airy spot in the junction 
of six streets. The proprietor of the land, from his known 
attachment to Birmingham, would, I doubt not, be much 
inclined to grant a favour. — Thus I have expended ten 
score words, to tell the world what another would have 
told them in ten — " That our prison is wretched, and we 
want a better". 

In 1806 a portion of the present Public Office and 
Prison was erected in Moor Street, upon land belonging 
to the Free Grammar School, and was improved and 
enlarged about the year 1830. It is now one of the 
most commodious Public Offices in the kingdom. The 
lower apartments are used by the commissioners of the 
Street Act, and for a variety of other public purposes. 
The second floor is fitted up for clerks' offices, magistrates' 
private rooms, and the public court, in which is a gallery 
conveniently fitted up with seats for the accommodation of 
spectators. Behind the Public Office is the Prison, and 
Prison-Keeper's House. The Prison Yard is about twelve 
feet below the level of the street, and this circumstance has 
no doubt conferred upon it the well known cognomen of 
(< The Hole." It is divided into two parts, intended no 
doubt to keep the males and females apart, but some of 
the males generally mix with the females during- the day. 
The yards are small, and it seems a matter of surprise that 
the premises at the back were not enlarged as well as at 



BIRMINGHAM. 407 

the front. There are two rows of cells., one upon a level 
with the yards, and the other nearly upon a level with the 
street. The cells are filthy, and are all exposed to the 
open air, the doors of which open into the yard of the 
lower tier, and to a long open gallery in the upper. The 
door serving two purposes, to admit the prisoner and the 
light, there being no windows except a square opening in 
the upper part of the door, unglazed ; they are, in fact, 
more like dog- kennels than sleeping rooms for human 
beings. The bedsteads are iron, conveniently fitted up 
with manacles for hands and feet. The prison keeper sup- 
plies accommodation to those who can pay for it in the 
house, at a charge of one shilling per night ; Mr. George 
Redfern, who is the present prison keeper, is a man highly 
qualified for this situation. The county is put to a great 
expense, in the removal of the prisoners to the County 
Gaol of Warwick, a distance of twenty miles, and by the 
attendance of witnesses and officers at the assizes and 
sessions. If a prisoner is committed for seven days only, 
he must be conveyed to Warwick for that term. The 
prison allowance consists of about one pound of bread, and 
a small portion of cheese, served at twice daily. 

County Gaol of Warwick. 

It may not be uninteresting to the reader to give some 
account of this receptacle for the unfortunate tradesman, 
and the fradulent bankrupt, the petty thief, the vagrant 
and the midnight robber, the offender against the laws of 
nature and the laws of tyranny, the man who commits the 
enormous crime of selling cheap news to his neighbour, 
and he who knocks out his neighbour's brains. The dis- 
obedient apprentice and the wholesale swindler; no 
distinction is made here, all are treated alike except the 
debtors. A caravan is kept to convey the prisoners to 
the gaol which usually goes twice a-week, often carrying 



408 HISTORY OF 

ten to twelve ; as soon as the prisoners arrive, their irons 
are taken off, and they are delivered over with a regular 
invoice of the cargo to the jailer or his deputy, who 
gives a regular receipt to the prison keeper of Birming- 
ham; the prisoners are then placed in a small crib, 
about four feet square, from which they are taken out one 
by one to be stripped, and searched by the turnkeys, who 
take every thing ;from them, except their wearing apparel. 
Their linen is at this time marked with large letters, the 
initials of their names ; they are then taken to the bath 
room, where the county barber crops their hair quite close, 
they are then obliged to wash in a warm bath prepared for 
the purpose ; when they have thus received a county crop, 
and have been dubbed knights of the bath, a suit of clothes 
is brought for them, not of purple and fine linen, but of a 
thick coarse drab woollen cloth, no stockings, and a hurden 
shirt. The prisoners' clothes are taken to the stove room 
to be fumigated, and the prisoners to their apartments, 
having been supplied with their eating tools and vessels, 
which consist of a wooden tub hooped with iron, that holds 
about a quart, and a wooden spoon. The accommodation 
consists of a court yard to walk in, paved with stone. A 
hall in which is a fireplace, and seats fixed to the wall 
after the manner of "some public-house kitchens, one large 
table, a coal box and a cupboard. The sleeping apart- 
ments consist of single or double bedded cells ; either one 
person is put in a cell, or three, sometimes four. The 
walls are very thick, of stone arched over at the top, the 
windows are about five feet from the floor, and are guarded 
within and without by strong cross bars. The entrance to 
each cell is guarded by a strong iron door, fastened with 
massive bolts. The floors are all brick, and the prisoners 
are not allowed to take in their shoes. The beds are 
straw, the bedsteads iron, with wood instead of sacking. 
The prison fare consists of about seven pounds and a half 



BIRMINGHAM. 409 

of bread per week, a small loaf being served out every 
morning at nine o'clock, one pound of meat in two 
portions, one on Monday the other on Thursday, two 
quarts of potatoes in two portions, Tuesday and Fri- 
day, one quart of gruel on Sunday morning-, Wednes- 
days and Saturdays bread only is allowed. After trial 
or conviction no prisoner is allowed anything but the 
above diet. Prisoners before trial are allowed to purchase 
to the amount of threepence daily, of tea, coffee, sugar, 
butter or milk, but whether before or after trial no descrip- 
tion of food, is allowed to be sent by the friends of the 
prisoner; no books are allowed except the Bible and 
Church Prayer Book, newspapers are prohibited. The 
church service is performed twice each week, Sunday and 
Wednesday. The prisoners are locked up at dusk each 
day, and turned out at daylight in the morning-. The 
male prisoners are divided into five gangs, classed accord- 
ing to merit. All letters and parcels are opened by the 
jailer. The females are apart from the males. Prisoners 
are allowed to see friends only in the presence of two turn- 
keys through iron bars. The debtors occupy another part 
of the prison, and although they attend in the same chapel 
with the felons and females, they never see either. The 
felons' prison is clean and well conducted in some respects, 
but little calculated to improve the morals of the inmates, 
who have no means of diverting their minds, but by the 
most filthy conversation, recounting the various exploits 
of their lives, and discussing the best means of performing 
the various operations of their craft. Send a little offender 
to a gaol, and nine cases out of ten you make an accom- 
plished rogue. The long period of confinement some 
prisoners have to endure previous to trial, frequently upon 
what proves very questionable evidence, is a great hard- 
ship, and ought to be altered. The time frequently 

extends from the beginning of October, to the end of 

3 g 



410 HISTORY OF 

March, putting the county to great expense, and decreas- 
ing the chances of conviction. The debtors' prison consists 
of two parts ; one occupied by poor debtors who have 
lodging free, and the county allowance of bread. The 
other by the master debtors who pay two shillings and 
sixpence per week each, for their beds, and supply them- 
selves with coals, candles, furniture for their rooms, and 
every other requisite. Eatables of all sorts are admitted. 
Ale is limited to one quart per day, or a pint of wine to 
each man, spirits of all kinds are prohibited. The debtors 
are locked up at nine o'clock in winter, and half-past nine 
in summer, but have access to each other's rooms. If the 
creditor had any chance of obtaining his debt before the 
arrest that chance now becomes hopeless ; a new chum is 
immediately beseiged by the inmates and lawyers who soon 
persuade him to " go through the court," that is to 
take the benefit of the Insolvent Debtors' Act, and' cheat 
all his creditors ; many friendly arrests takes place, and 
thus the Insolvent Act, is made subservient to the basest 
frauds. This part of the prison is often the scene of 
riot and drunkenness to a serious extent, the windows and 
doors are demolished with the greatest recklessness, and 
every person is subject to much annoyance, who does not 
join in these midnight tumults, in short, a man cannot 
help being contaminated, more or less, in this sink of 
poverty, wretchedness, infamy, and vice. 

Petition for a Corporation. 

Every man seems fond of two things, riches and power ; 
this fondness necessarily springs from the heart, otherwise 
order would cease. Without the desire of riches, a man 
would not preserve what he has, nor provide for the future, 
" My thoughts (says a worthy Christian) are not of this 
world ; I desire but one guinea to carry me through it." 



BIRMINGHAM. 411 

Supply him with that guinea, and he wishes another, lest 
the first should be defective. 

If it is necessary a man should possess property, it is 
just as necessary he should possess a power to protect it, 
or the world would quickly bully him out of it ; this power 
is founded on the laws of his country, to which he adds, by 
way of supplement, bye-laws founded upon his own pru- 
dence. Those who possess riches, well know they are 
furnished with wings, and can scarcely be kept from 
flying. 

The man who has power to secure his wealth, seldom 
stops there ; he, in turn, is apt to triumph over him who 
has less. Riches and 'power are often seen to go hand in 
hand. Industry produces property ; which, when a little 
matured, looks out for command ; thus the inhabitants of 
Birmingham, who have generally something upon the anvil 
besides iron, eighty years ago having derived wealth from 
diligence, wished to derive power from charter ; therefore 
petitioned the crown, that Birmingham might be erected 
into a corporation. Tickled with the title of alderman, 
dazzled with the splendour of a silver mace, a furred gown, 
and a magisterial chair, they could not see the interest of 
the place ; had they succeeded, that amazing growth would 
have been crippled, which has since astonished the world, 
and those trades have been fettered which have proved the 
greatest benefit. 

When a man loudly pleads for public good, we shrewdly 
suspect a private emolument lurking beneath. There is 
nothing more detrimental to good neighbourhood than 
men in power, where power is unnecessary ; free as the air 
we breathe, we subsist by our freedom ; no command is 
exercised among us, but that of the laws, to which every 
discreet citizen pays attention — the magistrate who distri- 
butes justice, tinctured with mercy, merits the thanks of 
society. A train of attendants, a white wand, and a few 



412 HISTORY OF 

fiddles, are only the fringe, lace, and trappings of char- 
ter al office. 

Birmingham, exclusive of her market, ranks among the 
very lowest order of townships ; every petty village claims 
the honour of being- a constablewick — we are no more. 
Our immunities are only the trifling privileges anciently 
granted to the lords; and two thirds of these are lost. 
But, notwithstanding this seemingly forlorn state, perhaps 
there is not a place in the British dominions, where so 
many people are governed by so few officers ; pride, there- 
fore, must have dictated the humble petition before us. . 

I have seen a copy of this petition, signed by eighty- 
four of the inhabitar's ; and though without a date, seems 
to have been addressed to king George the First, about 
1716; it alleges, "That Birmingham is, of late years, 
become very populous, from its great increase of trade ; is 
much superior to any town in the county, and but little 
inferior to any inland town in the kingdom ; that it is 
governed only by a constable, and enjoys no more privi- 
leges than a village ; that there is no justice of peace 
in the town, nor any in the neighbourhood, who dares act 
with vigour ; that the country abounds with rioters, who, 
knowing the place to be void of magistrates, assemble in 
it, pull down the meeting-houses, defy the king, openly 
avow the pretender, threaten the inhabitants, and oblige 
them to keep watch in their own houses ; that the trade 
decays, and will stagnate, if not relieved. To remedy 
these evils, they beseech his majesty to incorporate the 
town, and grant such privileges as will enable them to 
support their trade, the king's interest, and destroy the 
villainous attempts of the Jacobites. In consideration of 
the requested charter, they make the usual offering of 
lives and fortunes." 

A petition and the petitioner, like Janus with his two 
faces, looks different ways ; it is often treated as if it said 



BIRMINGHAM. 413 

one thing, and meant another ; or as if it said any thing 
but truth. Its use, in some places, is to lie on the table. 
Our humble petition, by some means, met with the fate it 
deserved. 

We may remark, a town without a charter, is a town 
without a shackle. If there was then a necessity to erect 
a corporation, because the town was large, there is none 
now, though larger ; the place was governed a thousand 
years ago, when only a twentieth its present magnitude, 
also be governed as well a thousand years hence, it may if 
it should swell to ten times its size. 

The pride of our ancestors was hurt by a petty con- 
stable ; the interest of us, their successors, would be 
hurt by a mayor ; a more simple government cannot be 
instituted, or one more efficacious ; that of some places is 
designed for parade, ours for use ; and both answers their 
end. A town governed by a multitude of governors, is the 
most likely to be ill-governed. 

The legislature have some time had a bill in contem- 
plation, to incorporate large towns, but at present it is 
uncertain when it will come into operation, and what will 
be its effects is equally uncertain, but I hope the people 
will bestir themselves, and insist upon every householder 
having a vote in the election of the men who are to govern 
them, and that in no case an officer shall be elected for life, 
and also see that the property qualification is not too high. 

Military Association. 
The use of arms is necessary to every man who has 
something to lose, or something to gain. No property 
will protect itself. The English have liberty and property 
to lose, but nothing to win. As every man is born free, 
the West-Indian slaves have liberty to gain, but nothing to 
lose. If an African prince attempts to sell his people, he 
ought to be first sold himself; and the buyer who acts so 



414 HISTORY OF 

daringly opposite to the Christian precept, is yet more 
blameable. He ought to have the first whip, often mended, 
worn out upon his own back. 

Upon a change of the Northean ministry, in 1782, the 
new premier, in a circular letter, advised the nation to 
arm, as the dangers of invasion threatened us with dreadful 
aspect. Intelligence from a quarter so authentic, locked 
up the door of private judgment, or we might have con- 
sidered, that even without alliance, and with four principal 
powers upon our hands, we were rather gaining ground ; 
that the Americans were so far frcm attacking us, that 
they wished us to run ourselves out of breath to attack 
them ; that Spain had slumbered over a seven years war ; 
that the Dutch, provoked at their governors, for the loss 
of their commerce, were more inclinable to invade them- 
selves than us ; and that as France bore the weight of the 
contest, we found employment, for her arms without inva- 
sion ; but, perhaps, the letter was only an artifice of the 
new state doctor, to represent his patient in a most 
deplorable state, as a compliment to his own merit in 
recovering her. 

Whatever was the cause, nothing could be more agree- 
able than this letter to the active spirit of Birmingham. 
Public meetings were held. The rockets of war were 
squibbed off in the newspapers. The plodding tradesman 
and the lively hero assembled together in arms, and many 
a trophy was won in thought. 

Each man purchased a genteel blue uniform, decorated 
with epaulets of gold, which, together with his accoutre- 
ments, cost about £17. The gentleman, the apprentice, 
&c. to the number of seventy, united in a body, termed by 
themselves, The Birmingham Association; by the wag, 
the brazen walls of the toivn. Each was to be officer and 
and private by ballot, which gives an idea of equality, and 
was called to exercise once a-week. 



BIRMINGHAM. 



415 



The high price of provisions, and the seventeenth of 
October, brought a dangerous mob into Birmingham. 
They wanted bread; so did we. But little conference 
passed between them and the inhabitants. They were 
quiet ; we were pleased ; and, after an hour or two's stay, 
they retreated in peace. 

In the evening, after the enemy were fled, our cham- 
pions beat to arms, breathing vengeance against the 
hungry crew; and, had they returned, some people 
verily thought our valiant heroes would have discharged 
at them. 

However laudable a system, if built upon a false basis, 
it will not stand. Equality and command, in the same 
person, are incompatible ; therefore cannot exist together. 
Subordination is necessary in every class of life, but par- 
ticularly in the military. Nothing but severe discipline 
can regulate the boisterous spirit of an army. 

A man may be bound to another, but if he commands 
the bandage, he will quickly set himself free. This was 
the case with the military association. As their uniform 
resembled that of a commander, so did their temper. 
There were none to submit. The result was, the farce 
ended, and the curtain dropt in December, by a quarrel with 
each other ; and, like John and Lilborn, almost with them- 
selves. 

When Napoleon, the then first consul of France, threat- 
ened to invade England, the men of Birmingham revived 
their military ardour, and formed the Birmingham Volun- 
teers; some joined from a love of country, more from 
novelty, and the most to prevent them being drawn in the 
militia then embodied, the rate of substitutes being rather 
high. Of the exploits of these worthies, many amusing 
anecdotes are still told by their companions in arms. 



OCCURRENCES. 



Earthquake, 8fc. 

It is a doctrine singular and barbarous, but it is never- 
theless true, that destruction is necessary. Every species 
of animals would multiply beyond their bounds in the 
creation, were not means devised to thin their race. 

I perused an author in 1738, who asserts, "• the world 
might maintain sixty times the number of its present 
inhabitants." Two able disputants, like those in religion, 
might maintain sixty arguments on the subject, and like 
them, leave the matter where they found it. But if restraint 
was removed, the present number would be multiplied into 
sixty, in much less than one century. 

Those animals appropriated for use, are suffered, or 
rather invited, to multiply without limitation. But luxury 
cuts off the beast, the pig, the sheep and the fowl, and ill 
treatment the horse ; vermin of every kind, from the lion 
to the louse, are hunted to death; a perpetual contest 
seems to exist between them and us ; they for their pre- 
servation, and we for their extinction. The kitten and 
the puppy are cast into the water to end their lives ; out 
of which the fishes are drawn to end theirs — animals are 
every where devoured by animals. Their grand governor, 
man himself, is under control ; some by religious, others 
by interested motives. Even the fond parent seldom 
wishes to increase the number of those objects, which of 
all others he values most ! In civilized nations the superior 
class are restrained by the laws of honour, the inferior by 
those of bastardy ; but, notwithstanding these restraints, 



BIRMINGHAM. 417 

the human race would increase beyond measure, were they 
not taken off by casualties. It is in our species alone, that 
we often behold the infant flame extinguished by the 
wretched nurse. 

Three dreadful calamities attending existence, are inun- 
dations, fires, and earthquakes ; devastation follows their 
footsteps. But one calamity, more destructive than them 
all, rises from man himself, ivar. 

Birmingham, from its elevation, is nearly exempt from 
the flood ; our inundations, instead of sweeping away life 
and fortune, sweep away the filth from the kennel. 

It is amazing, in a place crowded with people, that so 
much business, and so little mischief is done by fire ; we 
abound more with party walls, than with timber buildings. 
Utensils are ever ready to extinguish the flames, and a 
generous spirit to use them. I am not certain that a con- 
flagration of £50 damage has happened within memory, 
except with design. 

I have only one earthquake to record, felt Nov. 15, 1772, 
at four in the morning ; it extended about eight miles in 
length, from Hall Green to Erdington, and four in breadth, 
of which Birmingham was part. The shaking of the earth 
contined about five seconds, with unequal vibration, suf- 
ficient to awake a gentle sleeper, throw down a knife care- 
lessly reared up, or rattle the brass drops of a chest of 
drawers. A flock of sheep, in a field near Yardley, 
frightened at the trembling, ran away. No damage was 
sustained. 

Pitmore and Hammond. 

Thomas Pitmore, a native of Cheshire, after consuming 
a fortune of £700 was corporal in the second regiment of 
foot; and John Hammond, an American by birth, was 
drummer in the thirty-sixth ; both of recruiting parties in 
Birmingham. 

3 H 



418 HISTORY OF 

Having procured a brace of pistols, they committed 
several robberies in the dark, on the highways. 

At eight in the evening of November 22, 1780, about 
five hundred yards short of the four mile stone in the 
Coleshill Road, they met three butchers of Birmingham, 
who closely followed each other in their return from Rug-by 
fair. One of the robbers attempted the bridle of the first 
man, but his horse, being young, started out of the road, 
and ran away. The drummer then attacked a second, 
Wilfred Barwick, with " Stop your horse," and that 
moment, through the agitation of a timorous mind, dis- 
charged a pistol, and lodged a brace of slugs in the bowels 
of the unfortunate Barwick, who exclaimed, " I am a dead 
man !" and fell. 

The corporal instantly disappeared, and was afterwards, 
by the light of the snow upon the ground, seen retreating to 
Birmingham. The drummer ran forwards about forty 
yards, and over a stile into Ward-end Field. A fourth 
butcher of their company, and a lad, by this time came up, 
who, having- heard the report of a pistol, seen the flash, 
and the drummer enter the field, leaped over the hedge in 
pursuit of the murderer. A fray ensued, in which the 
drummer was seized, who desired them not to take his life, 
but leave him to the laws of his country. 

Within half an hour, the deceased and the captive ap- 
peared together in the same room, at the Horse shoe. 
What must then be the feelings of a mind, susceptible of 
impression by nature, but weakly calloused over by art ? 
This is one instance, among many, which shews us a life 
of innocence, is alone a life of happiness. 

The drummer impeached his companion, who was perhaps 
the most guilty of the two, and they were both that night 
lodged in the dungeon. 

Upon the trial, March 31, 1781, the matter was too plain 
to be controverted. The criminals were executed, and 



BIRMINGHAM. 



419 



hung in chains at Washwood Heath, April 2 ; the corporal 
at the age of twenty-five, and the drummer twenty two. 

Public executions at Birmingham have not been frequent. 
A man named Matsell, was executed on Snow Hill, for 
shooting- a night-constable named Twiford, when on duty, 
and since that time eight men were executed at Washwood 
Heath, for various crimes ; several for the manufacture of 
money, for which Birmingham is somewhat famed. 

Riots. 

Three principal causes of riot are, the low state of wages, 
the difference in political or religious sentiment, and 
the rise of provisions : these causes, like inundations, 
produce dreadful effects, and like them, return at uncertain 
periods. 

There is no nation fonder of their king than the English ; 
which is a proof that monarchy suits the genius of the 
people ; there is no nation more jealous of his power, which 
proves that liberty is a favourite maxim. Though the laws 
have complimented him with much, yet he well knows, a 
prerogative upon the stretch, is a prerogative in a dangerous 
state. The more a people value their prince, the more 
willing are they to contend in his favour. 

The people of England revered the memory of their be- 
loved Saxon kings, and doubly lamented their fall, with 
that of their liberties. They taxed themselves into beggary, 
to raise the amazing sum of £100,000 to release Richard 
the First, unjustly taken captive by Leopold. They pro- 
tected Henry the Fifth from death, at Agincourt, and re- 
ceived that death themselves. They covered the extreme 
weakness of Henry the Sixth, who never said a good thing, 
or did a bad one, with the mantle of royalty ; when a 
character like his, without a crown, would have been 
hunted through life ; they gave him the title of good king 
Henry, which would well have suited, had the word king 



420 



HISTORY OF 



been omitted : they sought him a place in the calendar of 
saints, and made Am ■perform the miracles of an angel 
when dead, who could never perform the works of a man 
when living. The people showed their attachment to 
Henry the Eighth, by submitting to the faggot and the 
block, at his command ; and with their last breath praying 
for their butcher. Affection for Charles the First, induced 
four of his friends to offer their heads to save his. — The 
wrath, and the tears of the people, succeeded his melancholy 
exit. When James the Second eloped from the throne, 
and was casually picked up at Feversham, by his injured 
subjects, they remembered he was their king. The church 
and Queen Anne, like a joyous copartnership, were toasted 
together. The barrel was willingly emptied to honour the 
queen, and the toaster lamented he could honour her no 
more. The nation displayed their love to Charles the 
Second, by lameing the forests. His climbing- the oak at 
Boscobel, has been the destruction of more timber than 
would have filled the harbour of Portsmouth ; the tree which 
flourished in the field, was brought to die in the street. 
Birmingham, for ninety years, honoured him with her 
vengeance against the woods ; and she is, at this day, 
surrounded with mutilated oaks, which stand as martyrs 
to royalty. 

It is singular, that the oak, which assisted the devotion 
of the Britons, composed habitations for the people, and 
furniture for those habitations ; that, while standing, was 
an ornament to the country that bore it, and afterwards 
guarded the land which nursed it, should be the cause of 
continual riots in the reign of George the First. We could 
not readily accede to a line of strangers, in preference to 
our ancient race of kings, though loudly charged with 
oppression. 

Clubs and tumults supported the spirit of contention till 
1745, when, as our last act of animosity, we crowned an 



BIRMINGHAM. 421 

ass with turnips, in derision of one of the worthiest families 
that ever eat them. 

Power in the hand of ignorance, is an edge-tool of the 
most dangerous kind. The scarcity in provisions in 1776, 
excited the murmurs of the poor. They began to breathe 
vengeance against the farmer, miller, and baker, for doing 
what they do themselves, procure the greatest price for 
their property. On the market day a common labourer, 
like Massaniello of Naples, formed the resolution to lead a 
mob. He therefore erected his standard, which was a mop 
inverted, assembled the crowd, and roared out the old note, 
" Redress of Grievances." The colliers, with all their 
dark retinue, were to bring destruction from Wednesbury. 
Amazement seized the town ! the people of fortune 
trembled ; John Wyrley, an able magistrate, for the first 
time frightened in office, with quivering lips, and a pale 
aspect, swore in about eighty constables, to oppose the 
rising storm, armed each of them with a staff of authority, 
warm from the turning lathe, and applied to the War-office 
for a military force. 

The lime-powdered monarch began to fabricate his own 
laws, and direct the price of every article, which was 
punctually obeyed. 

Port, or power, soon overcome a weak head ; the more 
copious the draught, the more quick intoxication; he 
entered many of the shops, and was every where treated 
with the utmost reverence ; took what goods he pleased, 
and distributed them among his followers ; till one of the 
inhabitants, provoked beyond measure at his insolence, 
gave him a hearty kick on the posteriors, when the hero 
and his consequence, like that of Wat Tyler, fell together. — 
Thus ended a reign of seven hours ; the sovereign was 
committed to prison, as sovereigns ought, in the abuse of 
power, and harmony was restored without blood. 



4?2 HISTORY OF 

The Riots in 1791. 

PREFACE. 

It is uncommon to find two Prefaces to one book, 
written by the same author, which contradict each other, 
and yet are both true. I have celebrated, in the former 
preface, also in the work, that industry, civility, and peace- 
able turn, which does honour to a people — all founded in 
fact. But now we enter upon big-otry, licentiousness, dis- 
order, insult, rapine, burnings, and murder. I am exceed- 
ingly sorry this is also true. 

The Riots ofl79l. 

Before I proceed to give a detailed narrative of these 
disgraceful disturbances, I shall state the various causes 
by which they were occasioned : and more particularly, 
because an attempt has been made to fix the stigma upon 
Dr. Priestley. The following- passage from his " Familiar 
Letters," which were written in vindication of his principles, 
and in answer to attacks made upon him from the various 
pulpits, was quoted in parliament, and by the clergy of 
Birmingham, to excite the people against the Unitarians, 
or, as they were then more generally called, Presbyterians. 
Although it evidently contains nothing more than a Rhe- 
torical Figure. " We are, as it were, laying gunpowder, 
grain by grain, under the old building of error and super- 
stition, which a single spark may hereafter inflame, so as 
to produce an instantaneous explosion ; in conseqnence of 
which that edifice, the erection of which has been the work 
of ages, may be overturned in a moment, and so effectually, 
as that the same foundation can never be built upon again." 
The above passage was literally interpreted to mean that a 
plot was forming to blow up the churches with the real 
chemical preparation of gunpowder, and a report was in- 



BIRMINGHAM. 



423 



dustriously circulated, that the magistrates were un- 
favourable to the dissenters, and would afford encouragement 
to the destruction of their meeting-houses. And the very 
equivocal conduct and guilty supineness of the magistrates, 
from beginning- to end of these outrages, tended to confirm 
the mob in these opinions. The first thing- which arose to 
disturb the harmony of the town, was an attempt of a 
portion of the members of the old library, to vote in the 
Polemical Works of Dr. Priestley, which was opposed by 
the clergy, and others of the church party. One party ac- 
cused the other of bigotry, the latter accused the former of 
infidelity. The clergy opposed the theological opinions of 
the Doctor, and attempted to stifle their propagation, con- 
scientiously believing they were discharging- their duty. 
The dispute was carried on with much bad feeling, ani- 
mosity, and recrimination ; and many bitter expressions 
were dropped, in the hearing of persons too ready to receive 
and misapply them. 

Dr. Priestley, and the dissenters had been labouring to 
obtain a repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, which were 
eventually repealed in the year 1828. This also was made 
a serious charge against them. Their object was repre- 
sented to be, to destroy our " holy religion, of church and 
state," and to recall the days of the "pope and the faggot." 
The Priestleans denied the truth of these statements, and 
endeavoured to define their object to be, to gain religious 
liberty for themselves and fellow-subjects, and declared 
their willingness, rather than involve their country in dis- 
putes, they would suspend or resign their claim. Still the 
absurd accusations against them gained credence, and were 
industriously circulated by hundreds of influential men. 
The clergy were encouraged by the success of two of 
their body, who had obtained mitres, by their able 
defence of the church, in controversy with the Doctor ; 
the remainder were therefore looking forward for the 



424 HISTORY OF 

" mitres to shower down upon those heads that were aching 
for them." 

When much excitement was thus produced in the public 
mind, which, though latent, waited but the first favourable 
moment to develope itself, the friends of civil and religious 
freedom, determined to hold a meeting to commemorate 
the anniversary of the French Revolution, an event then 
unstained by those atrocities which afterwards covered it 
with eternal disgrace. The advertisement announcing this 
meeting, appeared July 7, accompanied with one, stating 
that a list of the names would be published ; intended, no 
doubt, to intimidate the party, and calculated to menace 
the people. There were soon numerous indications, 
that this meeting- would not be allowed to pass quietly 
away, its objects and intentions were most unfairly and 
industriously misrepresented ; it was said they intended to 
destroy the church, and cashier the king, and commit other 
Jacobinical crimes." As a counterbalance to the baneful 
effects which were likely to result from this " Jacobinical 
assembly," the " church and king party" determined to 
hold a meeting, at the Swan Tavern, a house not many 
yards distant from the hotel, and thus, as it were, covertly 
manifest the desire they felt that the meeting should be 
disturbed. The liberal party, though determined to hold 
their meeting, took every possible precaution to allay the 
absurd fears which had been so industriously excited, 
but without effect, as the result proved. Yet it could not 
be foreseen, that such dreadful consequences would follow — 
nor would they, had there not been too much sympathy 
between the governed and the governors. 

Other things proved that there was a predeterminate 
intention to disturb the meeting. — On the evening before 
it took place, an inflammatory handbill was dropped in a 
public-house, which raised the public mind to a state of 
frenzy ; though a large reward was offered, and its contents 






BIRMINGHAM. 425 

immediately contradicted, its authors were never discovered. 
All that is known of its history, is, that it was fabricated 
and printed in London, and that copies were privately 
dropped under the table of an inn. Early in the afternoon 
of the fatal 14th of July, a few persons were assembled 
before the hotel. One of the town beadles was heard to 
say, "This will be such a day as toe never saw." The 
language was sufficiently expressive of guilty knowledge, 
which could barely be concealed ; and the situation of the 
informant throws a suspicion upon persons who ought to 
have spent their lives in preaching peace and goodwill to 
all mankind. 

At the meeting 1 which began at three, and lasted 
perhaps until five o'clock, the following toasts were 
drunk : 

1. The King and Constitution. 

2. The National Assembly and patriots of France, 
whose patriotism and wisdom have raised twenty-six 
millions from the meanest condition of despotism, to the 
dignity and happiness of freemen. 

3. The majesty of the people. 

4. May the constitution be rendered perfect and 
perpetual. 

5. May Great Britain, France, and Ireland, unite in 
perpetual friendship ; and may their only rivalship be in 
the extension of peace and liberty, wisdom, and virtue. 

6. The rights of man. May all nations have the 
wisdom to understand, and the courage to assert and 
defend them 

7. The true friends of the constitution in this country, 
who wish to preserve its spirit by correcting its abuses. 

8. May the people of England never cease to re- 
monstrate, till their parliament becomes a true national 
representation. 

9. The Prince of Wales. 

3 i 



426 HISTORY OF 

10. The United States of America; may they for ever 
enjoy the liberty which they so honourably acquired. 

11. May the revolution in Poland prove the harbinger 
of a more perfect system of liberty extending to that great 
kingdom. 

12. May the nations of Europe become so enlightened 
as never more to be deluded into savage wars, by the am- 
bition of their rulers. 

13. May the sword never be unsheathed, but for the 
defence and liberty of our country, and then may every 
one cast away the scabbard till the people are safe and 
free. 

14. To the glorious memory of Hampden, Sidney, and 
other heroes of all ages and nations, who have fought and 
bled for liberty. 

15. To the memory of Dr. Price, and all those illustrious 
sages who have enlightened mankind in the true principles 
of civil society. 

16. Peace and goodwill to all mankind. 

17. Prosperity to the town of Birmingham. 

18. A happy meeting to the friends of liberty, on the 
14th of July, 1792. 

Upon the table, in the meeting, was placed a medallion 
of the king, encircled with glory ; on the right appeared 
an emblematical figure, representing- British liberty; on 
the left, another, representing Gallic slavery breaking her 
chains. 

The people, at four o'clock, had assembled in great 
numbers, and their feelings were incensed by various 
means. " Respectable" persons were seen edging their 
way through the dense mass, dropping expressions of 
doubtful import, or making open accusations of the worst 
intentions. The " Church and King" party, at the Swan ? 
were drinking ' f potations pottle deep" to the downfall of 
" Jacobins," and shouting with frenzied feelings, " Church 










SS3E5E SffHW ®BMEE28B<8, 5K®H37glla 



4-97 

BIRMINGHAM. ^?' 

and King- for ever." A spy went into the meeting- at the 
hotel, and observing the fore-mentioned emblematical 
figures, returned to the people and declared " that they 
had cut off the king's head and placed it on the table. ' 
It was enough; the people were already sufficiently excited 
and countenanced, and only awaited the first moment 
to burst forth in uncontrolled fury. The windows of the 
hotel were immediately smashed to atoms. A gentleman 
of standing and station, exclaimed, " do not break Dadley's 
windows," The mob instantly rushed inside, and searched 
with determined rage for all who had attended the meeting. 
But they searched with more demoniacal fury and more 
barbarous intentions for the illustrious Priestly ; he had 
not attended the meeting, and thus saved himself, and pre- 
vented the town from sustaining a greater and more indelible 
disgrace. After narrowly searching, and committing much 
damage on the premises, an attorney, afterwards re- 
warded with the situation of barrack-master, said, " You 
have done enough mischief here, go to the meetings." 
They therefore ran yelling and hooting to the New Meeting-- 
House, and, without ceremony, broke it open ; the pews, 
cushions, books, and pulpit, they dashed to pieces ; in 
half an hour the place was blazing, and the savage multi- 
tude triumphing over it. The same fate attended the Old 
Meeting-, where the mob allowed the firemen to save the 
neighbouring buildings. 

The mob then undertook a march of more than a mile 
to the house of Dr. Priestly, but were met in Deritend by 
some young men who were receiving instructions gra- 
tuitously from the Doctor, in history, philosophy, and 
morals, who attempted, by persuasion, to divert their 
intentions, in which they succeeded until another herd of 
rioters came up, whose leader attributed the worst of 
motives to these young men, and finally succeeded in 
leading the rioters on to destroy the Doctor's house. 



428 



HISTORY OF 



Many memorandums of discoveries in philosophy, and 
several manuscript works, which the Doctor declared he 
could never re-write, were thus irrecoverably lost to him 
and the world. A clergyman attended this mob, and 
was charged with examining- and pocketing the manu- 
scripts ; with what intentions is not known. With this 
outrage closed the dreadful night of Thursday. 

The authorities were not so desirous, as became men 
in their situations, to quell the riots ; it is true that early 
on Friday, special constables were sworn in and ordered to 
assemble in St. Phillip's church-yard, but no magistrate 
appeared to lead and direct them. Much of that moral 
courage, which arises from the knowledge of acting under 
a responsible and lawful adviser, was therefore lost. 
Though they attacked and routed the mob in New Street, 
yet, for want of unity and confidence, they were defeated 
at Easy Hill, with the death of Mr. Thomas Ashwin, one 
of their number. It was noon this day, before the 
military force was sent for, and the messenger, by some 
unaccountable delay, did not arrive in London until the 
evening of Saturday, The rioters were addressed in mild 
and beseeching language, were called "friends and 
brother churchmen," were told that enough had been 
done, plainly insinuating that something required to be 
done. In answer for permission to repel force by force, 
the people were told that it must be at their own peril ; 
and the local militia and police were resting in quiet, while 
the mob were plundering and alarming the neighbourhood. 

About noon, on Friday, a body of ten thousand rioters 
attacked the mansion of John Ryland, Esq., at Easy 
Hill. The cellar, containing a stock of wine, valued £300, 
was entered with amazing eagerness, and its contents 
inebriated great numbers of the mob. Some remained so 
long, that when the roof fell in, they were hurried into 
eternity in a state of beastly intoxication. 



BIRMINGHAM. 429 

The prisons and the Court of Requests were broken 
open, and the inmates swelled the number of the drunken 
mob, whose leaders had by this time adopted a disorderly 
method, in giving notice to the occupiers of property on 
which they intended to wreak their vengeance. While 
they were busied in destroying the former mansion, 
Mr. Hutton received notice that his property was devoted 
to destruction ; as they were coming along New Street, 
some gentlemen advised them to disperse, when one of 
their leaders cried out " do not disperse, they want to sell 
us ; if you will pull down Hutton's house, I will give you 
two guineas to drink, for it was owing to him I lost a 
cause in the Court of Requests." Mr. Hutton placed a 
large tub of ale before his door, and when it was consumed 
some of the rioters caught him, made him give them all 
the money he had or could immediately borrow, and hauled 
him away to a public house, at which they drank three 
hundred and twenty-nine gallons at his expense. He aiid 
his son repeatedly bought them off, but the house was 
ultimately gutted and the property destroyed, to the 
minutest article. Bordesley Hall was the next object of 
their vengeance, and it closed the work of Friday. 

Saturday was ushered in by the destruction of Mr. 
Hutton's house at Bennetts Hill, Washwood Heath. The 
mansion of George Humphries, Esq., was next attacked'; 
he had prepared for a vigorous defence, and the discharge 
of a pistol dispersed the first assailants ; but the female 
part of his family becoming very much alarmed, obliged 
him to desist, and the mob returning with increased 
numbers, sacked and destroyed the internal parts of his 
house. The next sacrifice was the house of William 
RusseL, Esq., at Showell Green ; he also had prepared for 
a defence, but his defenders shrunk before the mob. The 
houses of Thomas Russell, Esq., and that of Mr. Hawkes, 



430 HISTORY OF 

were next attacked ; they were plundered and greatly 
injured, but not burnt. Mosely Hall, the residence of 
Lady Carhampton, and property of John Taylor, Esq., 
was also destroyed, as were the houses of Messrs. Hobson, 
Piddock, and Harwood; these, with the plundering- of 
the house of Mr. Coates, were the work of Saturday. 

The mob had by this time betrayed an indiscriminate 
desire for plunder, all therefore looked eagerly forward to 
the arrival of an adequate force, to suppress the outrages 
and fear filled the minds of all the inhabitants. Some of 
the neighbouring nobility, justices, and gentlemen, arrived 
this day, to deliberate on the measures to be adopted ; 
but no other means were used than persuasion, they 
harangued the mobs, and issued supplicating placards, 
without producing any effect. It was really an awful day, 
the peaceable inhabitants, saw the authorities either 
unable or unwilling to protect them. If they dared to stir 
abroad, they were made to vociferate the war cry of the 
party, " church and king for ever," and to chalk the same 
prostituted names on their doors and their shutters, every 
drunken ruffian claimed to be treated with civility, and 
called " a friend, and brother churchman," while hundreds 
of them lay in the streets in a stupified state of drunken- 
ness. For three days, had a lawless mob reigned in this 
devoted town ; for two nights had the inhabitants refrained 
from sleep, and a third night was destined to be passed in 
the same state of alarm and anxiety, doubtless there were 
brave hearts which swelled with a desire and determi- 
nation to meet, and revenge themselves on that lawless 
mob, for all its atrocities, but the ardour was damped, 
and the determination arrested by the cold unwillingness, 
or cowardly inability of the authorities. The timid were 
shrinking with fear, the brave were burning with shame, 
the authorities were paralised, the liberal, the learned, and 



BIRMINGHAM. 431 

the wealthy, were suffering persecution, and a lawless mob 
was triumphant. Such was the state of things when dark- 
ness closed in the day of Saturday. 

It might be supposed from the burning zeal of the 
rioters for our " holy church," that they would have had 
some respect for its institutions, and have exemplified the 
purity of their faith, by passing the Sabbath in prayer and 
fasting, but their zeal allowed of no cessation, while any 
of their Father's business was unaccomplished, they there- 
fore pursued the same conduct, which had characterized 
their religion and loyalty for the preceding three days. 
The Sunday's work began by attacking the house of Mr. 
Cox, which was licensed for public worship, at Wharstock, 
and after pledging- each other to support church and king, 
with the contents of the cellar, they burnt the house. 

Penetrating one mile farther, they arrived at Kingswood 
Meeting House, which with the Parsonage House, they 
laid in ashes ; returning to Birmingham, they attacked 
Edgbaston Hall, the residence of Dr. Withering. But 
before their work was completed, they were informed that 
the light horse had arrived in Birmingham, they imme- 
diately decamped, and dispersed in as remarkable a man- 
ner, as they had risen, they were last heard of in the 
neighbourhood of Hales Owen, levying contributions on the 
farm houses, but the country people collected and soon 
dispersed them. 

Ten persons who claimed compensation for losses sus- 
tained during the riots, were possessed of nearly a million 
sterling, and three who were merchants, employed more 
than ten thousand people. Thus some of the greatest 
benefactors of the inhabitants were endeavoured to be 
ruined, under the vague charge of an attempt to injure 
the church, the king, and themselves. 

Though such a number of persons had engaged in these 



432 HISTORY OF 

proceedings, but few were apprehended, and fewer still 
punished. 

Every obstacle was placed in the way of the sufferers 
obtaining redress. The following are the sums claimed 
and allowed by each : — 



NAME. 


CLAIM. 




ALLOWED. 






£ 


s. 


d. 


£ s. 


d. 


John Taylor, Esq. 


12670 


9 


2 


9902 2 





Thomas Russell, Esq. 


285 


11 


7 


160 





William Piddock 


556 


15 


7 


300 





John Harwood 


143 


12 


6 


60 





Thomas Hawkes 


304 


3 


8 


90 15 


8 


Cox - 


336 


13 


7 


254 





Parsonage House - 


267 


14 


11 


200 





St. Dollax 


198 


8 


9 


139 17 


6 


William Russell, Esq. 


1971 


8 


6 


1600 





John Ryland, Esq. 


3240 


8 


4 


2495 11 


6 


Old Meeting 


1983 


19 


3 


1390 7 


5 


George Humphreys, Esq. 


2152 


13 


1 


1855 11 





Dr. Priestley 


3628 


8 


9 


2502 18 





Thomas Hutton 


619 


o 


2 


619 2 


2 


William Hutton 


6736 


3 


8 


5390 17 






35095 13 6 26961 2 3 

The loss of some of the parties was more than the claim. 
The real amount of loss to Mr. Taylor, amounted to 
upwards of £22,600 ; Dr. Priestley to about £4,500 ; Mr. 
William Hutton, £8,243. The expenses incurred in the 
recovery of the above sums amounted to about £13,000. 
Many of the sums obtained did not cover the expenses. 
Mr, Hutton's expenses amounted to £884 15s. 9a?., and 
to add to the injustice of the case, two years were suffered 
to elapse before the sums awarded were paid over. 




®JE,3E> MSMgE 1 2B5'© 9 Js)5gg'as'5E® , g'513Ei Af SSEIS 012®^©, a^§>&. 



BIRMINGHAM. 433 

The Conjurors* 

No head is a vacuum. Some, like a paltry cottage, are 
ill accommodated, dark, and circumscribed; others are 
capacious as Westminster Hall. Though none are im- 
mense, yet they are capable of immense furniture. The 
more room is taken up by know^dge, the less remains for 
credulity. The more a man is acquainted with things, he 
is the more willing to give up the ghost. Every town and 
village, within my knowledge, has been pestered with 
spirits; which appear in horrid forms to the imagination in 
the winter night — but the spirits which haunt Birmingham, 
are those of industry and luxury. 

If we examine the whole parish, we cannot produce one 
old witch ; but we have plenty of young ones, who exercise 
a powerful influence over us. Should the ladies accuse the 
harsh epithet, they will please to consider, I allow them, 
what of all things they most wish for, power — therefore 
the balance is in my favour. 

If we pass through the planetary worlds, we shall be 
able to muster up two conjurors, who endeavoured to shine 
with the stars. The first, John Walton, who was so busy 
in casting the nativity of others, that he forgot his own. 
Conscious of an application to himself, for the discovery of 
stolen goods, he employed his people to steal them. And 
though, for many years confined to his bed by infirmity, he 
could conjure away the property of others, and, for a 
reward, re-conjure it again. 

The prevalence of this evil, induced the legislature, 
in 1725, to make the reception of stolen goods capital. 
The first sacrifice to this law, was the noted Jonathan 
Wild. 

The officers of justice, in 1732, pulled Walton out of his 
bed, in an obscure cottage, one furlong from the town, now 
Brickiln Lane, carried him to prison, and from thence to 

3 K 



434 HISTORY OF 

the gallows — they had better have carried him to the work- 
house, and his followers to the anvil. 

To him succeeded Francis Kimberley, the only reason- 
ing- animal, who resided at No. 60, in Dale End, from 
his early youth to extreme age. An hermit in a crowd ! 
The windows of his house were strangers to light. 
The shutters forgot to open ; his chimney to smoke . 
His cellar, though amply furnished, never knew moisture. 

He spent threescore years in filling six rooms with such 
trumpery as is just too good to be thrown away, and too bad 
to be kept. His life was as inoffensive as long 1 . Instead 
of stealing the goods which other people used, he purchased 
what he could not use himself. He was not anxious what 
kind of property entered his house ; if there was bulk he 
was satisfied. 

His dark house, and his dark figure corresponded with 
each other. The apartments, choked up with lumber, 
scarcely admitted his body, though of the skeleton order. 
Perhaps leanness is an appendage to the science, for I 
never knew a corpulent conjurer. His diet, regular, 
plain, and slender, showed at how little expense life may 
be sustained. His library consisted of several thousand 
volumes, not one of which, I believe, he ever read ; having 
written, in characters unknown to all but himself, his 
name, price, and date, in the title-page, he laid them by 
for ever. The highest pitch of his erudition was the 
annual almanack. 

He never wished to approach a woman, or be approached 
by one. Should the rest of men, for half a century, pay 
no more attention to the fair, some angelic hand might stick 
up a note, like the arctic circle over one of our continents, 
this world to be let. 

If he did not cultivate the human species, the spiders, 
more numerous than his books, enjoyed an uninterrupted 
reign of quiet. The silence of the place was not broken. 



BIRMINGHAM. 435 

The broom, the book, the dust, or the web, was not dis- 
turbed. Mercury and his shirt changed their revolutions 
together ; and Saturn changed his with his coat. He died 
in 1756, as conjurers usually die, unlaraented. 

Public Roads. 

Man is evidently formed for society ,• the intercourse of 
one with another, like two blocks of marble in friction, 
reduces the rough prominences of behaviour, and gives a 
polish to the manners. 

Whatever tends to promote social connexion, improve 
commerce, or stamp an additional value upon property, is 
worthy of attention. 

Perhaps there is not a circumstance that points more 
favourably towards these great designs, than commodious 
roads. According as a country is improved in her roads, 
so will she stand in the scale of civilization. It is a cha- 
racteristic by which we may pronounce with safety. The 
manners and the roads of the English, have been refining 
together for about 1700 years. If any period of time is 
distinguished with a more rapid improvement in one, it is 
also in the other. 

Our Saxon ancestors, of dusky memory, seldom stepped 
from under the smoke of Birmingham. We have a com- 
mon observation among us, that even so late as William 
the III., the roads were in so dangerous a state, that a 
man usually made his will, and took a formal farewell of 
his friends, before he durst venture upon a journey to Lon- 
don ; which, perhaps, was thought then of as much con- 
sequence as a voyage to America is now. A dangerous road 
is unfavourable both to commerce and to friendship; a man 
is unwilling to venture his neck to sell his productions, 
or even visit his friend ; if a dreadful road lies between 
them, t will be apt to annihilate friendship. 

Landed property in particular, improves with the road. 



436 HISTORY OF 

If a farmer cannot bring his produce to market, he can- 
not give much for his land, neither can that land well be 
improved, or the market properly supplied. Upon a well 
formed road, therefore, might, with propriety, be placed 
the figures of commerce, of friendship, and of agriculture, 
as presiding over it. 

The Romans were the most accomplished masters we 
know of in this useful art ; yet even they seem to have 
forgot the under drain, for it is evident at this day, where 
their road runs along" the declivity of a hill, the water 
dams up, flows over, and injures the road. Care should 
be taken, in properly forming a road at first, otherwise 
you may botch it for a whole century, and at the end 
of that long period, it will be only a botch itself. A 
wide road will put the innocent traveller out of fear 
of the waggoners ; not the most civilized of the human race. 

From Birmingham, as from a grand centre, issue twelve 
roads, that point to as many towns ; some of these, within 
memory, have scarcely been passable ; all are mended, but 
though much is done, more is wanted. In an upland 
country, like that about Birmingham, where there is no 
river of size, and where the heads only of the streams 
show themselves, the stranger would be surprised to hear, 
that through most of these twelve roads he cannot travel 
in a flood with safety. For want of causeways and 
bridges, the water is suffered to flow over the road, higher 
than the stirrup ; every stream, though only the size of a 
tobacco-pipe, ought to be carried through an under-drain, 
never to run over the road. 

At Saltley, in the way to Coleshill, which is ten miles, 
for want of a causeway, with an arch or two, every 
flood annoys the passenger and the road. At Coleshill 
Hall, till the year 1779, he had to pass a dangerous 
river. 

One mile from Birmingham, upon the Lichfield road, 



BIRMINGHAM. 437 

sixteen miles, to the disgrace of the community, was a 
river without a bridge till 1792. In 1777, the country was 
inclined to solicit parliament for a turnpike act, but the 
matter fell to the ground through private views; one would 
think that penny can never be ill laid out, which carries a 
man ten miles with pleasure and safety. The hand of 
nature has been more beneficent, both to this, and to the 
Stafford road, which is twenty-eight miles, than that of art. 
The road to Walsall, ten miles, is lately made good. 
That to Wolverhampton, thirteen miles, is much im- 
proved since the coal teams left it. 

The road to Dudley, ten miles, is despicable beyond 
description. The unwilling traveller is obliged to go two 
miles about, through a bad road, to avoid a worse. 

That to Hales Owen, eight miles, like the life of 
man, is chequered with good and evil ; chiefly the latter. 

To Bromsgrove, twelve miles, made extremely com- 
modious, under the patronage of John Kettle, Esq. 

To Alcester, about twenty, formed in 1767, upon a 
tolerable plan, but is rather too narrow^ through a 
desolate country, which at present scarcely defrays the 
expense ; but that country seems to improve with the road. 
Those to Stratford and Warwick, about twenty miles 
each, are much used and much neglected. 

That to Coventry, about the same distance, can only be 
equalled by the Dudley road. The genius of the age has 
forgot, in some of these roads, to accommodate the foot 
passenger with a causeway. 

The surveyor will be inclined to ask, How can a capital 
be raised to defray this enormous expense ? Suffer me 
to reply with an expression in the life of Oliver Cromwell, 
" He that lays out money when necessary, and only 
then, will accomplish matters beyond the reach of ima- 
gination." Since Mr. Hutton wrote the above, the whole 
of the roads out of Birmingham have been improved, and 



438 HISTORY OF 

in many instances much short °red. The worst road from 
Birmingham now, I think, is that leading to the county 
town of Warwick. 

Government long practised the impolitic mode of 
transporting vast numbers of her people to America, 
under the character of felons ; these, who are generally in 
the prime of life, might be made extremely useful to 
that country which they formerly robbed, and against 
which they often carry arms. It would be easy to reduce 
this ferocious race under a kind of martial discipline ; to 
badge them with a mark only removeable by the governors, 
for hope should ever be left for repentance, and to employ 
them in the rougher arts of life, according to the nature of 
the crime, and the ability of the body ; such as working 
the coal mines in Northumberland, the lead mines in 
Derbyshire, the tin mines in Cornwall, cultivating waste 
lands, banking after inundations, forming canals, cleansing 
the beds of rivers, assisting in harvest, and in forming 
and mending the roads : these heivers. of wood and 
drawers of water would be a corps of reserve against 
any emergency. From this magazine of villainy, the 
British navy might be equipped with considerable advantage. 

Canals. 

An act was obtained in 1767, to make a canal between 
Birmingham and the coal delphs about Wednesbury. 
The necessary article of coal, before this act, was brought 
by land, at about thirteen shillings per ton, but now at 
eight shillings and fourpence. It was common to see a 
train of carriages for miles, to the great destruction of the 
road and the annoyance of travellers. 

This duct is extended in the whole to about twenty-two 
miles in length, till it unites with what we may justly term 
the grand artery, or Staffordshire Canal ; which, crossing 
the island, communicates with Hull, Bristol, and Liver- 



BIRMINGHAM. 439 

pool. The expense was about £70,000, divided into shares 
of £140 each, of which no man can purchase more than ten, 
and which, in 1782, sold for about £370, and in 1792 
for £1170. 

The proprietors took a perpetual lease of six acres 
of land of Sir Thomas Gooch, at £47 per annum, 
which is converted into a wharf, upon the front of 
which is erected a handsome office for the dispatch of 
business. 

This watery passage, exclusive of loading the proprietors 
with wealth, tends greatly to the improvement of some 
branches of trade, by introducing heavy materials at a 
small expense, such as pig iron from the founderies, lime- 
stone, articles for the manufacture of brass and steel, 
also stone, brick, slate, timber, &c. It is happy for the 
World, that public interest is grafted upon private, and that 
both flourish together. 

This grand work, like other productions of Birmingham 
birth, was rather hasty ; the managers, not being able to 
find patience to worm round the hill at Smethwick, or cut 
through, it wisely travelled over it by the help of twelve 
locks, with six they mount the summit, and with six more 
descend to the former level ; forgetting the great waste of 
water, and the small supply from the rivulets, and also 
the amazing loss of time in climbing this curious ladder, 
consisting of twelve liquid steps. These locks are now 
reduced in number. It is worthy of remark, that the 
level of the earth is nearly the same at Birmingham as at 
the pits ; what benefit then would accrue to commerce, 
could the boats travel a dead fiat of fourteen miles, with- 
out interruption ? The use of the canal would increase, 
great variety of goods be brought which are now excluded, 
and these delivered with more expedition, with less 
expense, and the waste of water never felt ; but, by 
the introduction of twelve unnecessary locks, the com- 



440 HISTORY OF 

pany may experience five plagues more than fell on 
Egypt. 

The boats are nearly alike, constructed to fit the locks, 
carry about twenty-five tons, and are each drawn by 
something- like the skeleton of a horse, covered with 
skin ; whether he subsists upon the scent of the water, is 
a doubt ; but whether his life is a scene of affliction, is 
not ; for the unfeeling driver has no employment but to 
whip him from one end of the canal to the other. While 
the teams practised the turnpike road, the lash was divided 
among five unfortunate animals, but now the whole wrath 
of the driver falls upon one. We can scarcely view a boat 
travelling this liquid road, without raising opposite 
sensations — pleased to think of its great benefit to the 
community, and grieved to behold wanton punishment. I 
see a large field of cruelty expanding before me, which I 
could easily prevail with myself to enter; .in which we 
behold the child plucking a wing and a leg off a fly, to 
try how the poor insect can perform with half his limbs ; 
or running a pin through the posteriors of a locust, to 
observe it spinning through the air, like a comet, drawing 
a tail of thread. If we allow man has a right to destroy 
noxious animals, we cannot allow he has a right to pro- 
tract their pain by a lingering death. By fine gradations 
the modes of cruelty improve with years, in pinching the 
tail of a cat for the music of her voice, kicking a dog 
because we have trod upon his foot, or hanging him for 
fun, till we arrive at the priests in the church of Rome, 
who burnt people for opinion; or to the painter, who 
begged the life of a criminal, that he might torture him 
to death with the severest pangs, to catch the agonizing 
feature, and transfer it into his favourite piece, of a dying 
Saviour. But did that Saviour teach such doctrine ? 
Humanity woirid wish rather to have lost the piece, than 
have heard of the cruelty. What, if the injured ghost of 



BIRMINGHAM. 



■A 



the criminal is at this moment torturing that of the painter ? 
But as this capacious field is beyond the line I profess, and 
as I have no direct accusation against the people of my 
regard, I shall not enter it, 

Bilston Canal Act. 

Envy, like a dark shadow, follows closely the footsteps 
of prosperity ; success in any undertaking out of the circle 
of genius, produces a rival. This I have instanced in our 
hackney coaches. Profits, like a round-bellied bottle, may 
seem bulky, which, like that, will not bear dividing. Thus 
Orator Jones, in 1774, opened a debating society at the 
Red Lion ; he quickly filled a large room with customers, 
and his pockets with money, but he had not prudence to 
keep either. His success opened a rival society at the 
King's Head, which, in a few weeks, annihilated both. 

The growing profits of our canal company already 
mentioned, had increased the shares from £140 in 1768, 
to four hundred guineas in J 782. These emoluments 
being thought enormous, a rival company sprung up, 
which, in 1783, petitioned parliament to partake of those 
emoluments, by opening a parallel cut from some of the 
neighbouring coal-pits, to proceed along the lower level, 
and terminate in Digbeth. 

A stranger might ask, " How the water in our upland 
country, which had never supplied one canal, could supply 
two ? Whether the second canal was not likely to rob the 
first? Whether one able canal is not preferable to two 
lame ones ? If a man sells me an article cheaper than I 
can purchase it elsewhere, whether, it is of consequence 
to me what are his profits ? And whether two companies 
in rivalship would destroy that harmony which has long 
subsisted in Birmingham ?" 

The new company urged " the necessity of another canal, 
lest the old should not perform the business of the town : 

3 L 



HISTORY OF 



that twenty per cent, are unreasonable returns ; that they 
could afford coals under the present price ; that the south 
country teams would procure a readier supply from Dig- 
beth, than from the present wharf, and not passing through 
the streets, would be prevented from injuring the pave- 
ment ; and that the goods from the Trent, would come to 
their wharf by a run of eighteen miles nearer than to the 
other." 

The old company alleged, " that they ventured their 
property in an uncertain pursuit, which, had it not 
succeeded, would have ruined many individuals ; therefore 
the present gains were only a recompense for former 
hazard ; that this property was expended upon the faith of 
parliament, who were obliged in honour to protect it, 
otherwise no man would risk his fortune upon a public 
undertaking ; for should they allow a second canal, why 
not a third ; which would become a wanton destruction of 
right, without benefit ; that although the profit of the 
original subscribers might seem large, those subscribers 
are but few ; many have bought at a subsequent price 
which barely pays common interest, and this is all their 
support ; therefore a reduction would be barbarous on one 
side, and sensibly felt on the other ; and, as the present 
canal amply supplies the town and country, it would be 
ridiculous to cut away good land to make another, which 
would ruin both." 

I shall not examine the reasons of either, but leave the 
disinterested reader to weigh both in his own balance. 
When two opponents have said all that is true, they gene- 
rally say something more ; rancour holds the place of 
argument. 

Both parties beat up for volunteers in the town, to 
strengthen their forces ; from words of acrimony they came 
to those of virulence ; then the powerful batteries of hand- 
bills and newspapers were opened ; every town within 



BIRMINGHAM. 443 

fifty miles, interested on either side, was moved to petition, 
and both prepared for a grand attack, confident of victory. 
Perhaps a contest among friends, in matters of property, 
will remove that peace of mind which twenty per cent, 
will not replace. Each party possessed that activity of 
spirit for which Birmingham is famous, and seemed to 
divide between them the legislative strength of the nation ; 
every corner of the two houses was ransacked for a vote ; 
the throne was the only power unsolicited. Perhaps at 
the reading, when both parties had marshalled their forces, 
there was the fullest House of Commons ever remembered 
on a private bill. 

The new company promised much, for besides the cut 
from Wednesbury to Digbeth, they would open another to 
join the two canals of Stafford and Coventry, in which a 
large tract of country was interested. 

As the old company were the first adventurers, the 
house gave them the option to perform this Herculean 
labour, which they accepted. Thus the new proprietors, 
by losing, will save £50,000 and the old, by winning 1 , 
become sufferers. 

Since the above, acts have been obtained to open canals 
from the town to Worcester, Fazeley, Warwick, and 
Stratford. 

Gentlemen's Seats. 

This neighbourhood may justly be deemed the seat of 
the arts, but not the seat of the gentry. None of the 
nobility are near us, except William Legge, Earl of Dart- 
mouth, at Sandwell, four miles from Birmingham. The 
principal houses in our environs, are those of the late Sir 
Charles Holte, who was member for the county, at Aston ; 
Sir Henry Gough Calthorpe, member for Bramber, at 
Edgbaston ; George Birch, Esq. at Handsworth \ John 
Gough, Esq. at Perry ; and John Taylor, Esq. at Bordes- 



444 



HISTORY OF 



ley, and at Moseley ; all joining to the manor of Birming- 
ham. Exclusive of these, are many elegant retreats of 
our first inhabitants, acquired by commercial success. 

Full fed with vanity is an author, when two readers 
strive to catch up his work, for the pleasure of perusing 
it : — but, perchance, if two readers dip into this chapter, 
they may strive to lay it down. 

I have hitherto written to the world, but now to a small 
part, the antiquarians ; nay, a small part of the sensible 
part ; for a fool and an antiquarian is a contradiction ; they 
are, to a man, people of letters and penetration. If their 
judgment is sometimes erroneous, we may consider, man 
was never designed for perfection ; there is also less light 
to guide them in this, than in other researches. If the 
traveller slips upon common ground, how will he fare if he 
treads upon ice ? — Besides, in dark questions, as in intricate 
journies, there are many erroneous ways for one that is right. 
If, like the mathematician, he can establish one point, it 
ascertains another. We may deem his pursuit one of the 
most arduous, and attended with the least profit ; his 
emoluments consist in the returns of pleasure to his Own 
mind. The historian only collects the matter of the day 
and hands it to posterity ; but the antiquarian brings his 
treasures from remote ages, and presents them to this ; he 
examines forgotten repositories, calls things back into 
existence ; counteracts the efforts of ime, and of death ; 
possesses something- like a recreative power ; collects the 
dust of departed matter, moulds it into its pristine state, 
exhibits the figure to view, and stamps it with a kind of 
immortality. 

Every thing has its day, whether it be a nation, a city, 
a castle, a man, or an insect ; the difference is, one is a 
winter's day, the other may be extended to the length of a 
summer's — an end waits upon all. But we cannot con- 
template the end of grandeur without gloomy ideas. 



BIRMINGHAM. 445 

Birmingham is surrounded with the melancholy remains 
of extinguished greatness : the decayed habitations of 
decayed gentry, fill the mind with sorrowful reflections. 
Here the feet of those marked the ground, whose actions 
marked the page of history. Their arms glistened in the 
field ; their eloquence moved the senate. Born to com- 
mand, their influence was extensive ; but who now rest in 
peace among the paupers, fed with crumbs of their table. 
The very land which, for ages, was witness to the hospi- 
tality of its master, is itself doomed to sterility. The spot 
which drew the adjacent country, is neglected by all ; is 
often in a wretched state of cultivation, sets for a trifle ; 
the glory is departed ; it demands a tear from the traveller, 
and the winds seem to sigh over it. 

The Moats. 

In the parish of King's Norton, four miles south-west of 
Birmingham, is the Moats, upon which long resided the 
ancient family of Field. The numerous buildings, which 
almost formed a village, are totally erased, and barley 
grows where the beer was drank. 

Black Greves. 

Eight miles south west of Birmingham, in the same 
parish, near Withod Chapel, is Black Greves (Black 
Groves) another seat of the Fields ; which, though a 
family of opulence, were so far from being lords of the 
manor, that they were in vassalage to them. 

The whole of that extensive parish is in the crown, 
which holds the detestable badge of ancient slavery over 
every tenant, of demanding under the name of herriot, the 
best moveable he dies possessed of — Thus death and 
the bailiff make their inroads together ; they rob the 
family in a double capacity, each taking the best move- 
able. 



446 HISTORY OF 

As the human body descends into the regions of sick- 
ness, much sooner than it -can return into health ; so a 
family can decline into poverty by hastier steps than rise 
into affluence. One generation of extravagance puts a 
period to many of greatness. A branch of the Fields, in 
1777, finished their ancient grandeur by signing away the 
last estate of his family. — Thus he blotted out the name 
of his ancestors by writing his own. 

Ulverley, or Culverley. 

Four miles from Birmingham, upon the Warwick Road, 
entering the parish of Solihull, in Castle Lane_, is Ulverle, 
in doomsday Ulverlei. Trifling as this place now seems, 
it must have been the manor-house of Solihull, under the 
Saxon heptarchy ; but went to decay so long ago as the 
conquest. 

The manor was the property of the Earls of Mercia, but 
whether their residence is uncertain. The traces of a 
moat yet remain, which are triangular, and encircle a 
wretched farm house of no note ; one of the angles of this 
moat is filled up, and become part of Castle Lane, which 
proves that Ulverley went into disuse when Hogg's Moat 
was erected ; it also proves that the lane terminated here, 
which is about two hundred yards from the turnpike road. 
The great width of the lane, from the road to Ulverley, 
and the singular narrowness from thence to Hogg's moat, 
is another proof of its prior antiquity. 

If we pursue our journey half a mile farther along this 
lane, which by the way is scarcely passable, it will bring 
us to 

Hogg's Moat. 
At Oltenend (Old Town) originally Odingsell's Moat, 
now Hobb's Moat, the ancient manor house of Solihull, 
after it had changed its lords at the conquest. The pro- 



BIRMINGHAM. 



447 



perty, as before observed, of Edwin Earl of Mercia, in the 
reign of Edward the Confessor: 

William the I. granted the manor to a favourite lady, 
named Cristina, probably a handsome lass, of the* same 
complexion as his mother; thus we err when we say 
William gave all the land in the kingdom to his followers 
— some little was given to those he followed. 

This lady, like many of her successors, having tired the 
arms of royalty, was conveyed into those of an humble 
favourite ; Ralph de Limesie married her, who became 
lord of .the place, but despising Ulverley, erected this 
castle. The line of Limesie continued proprietors four 
descents ; when, in the reign of King John, it became the 
property of Hugh de Odingsells, by marrying a co-heiress. 
The last of the Odingsell's in 1294, left four daughters, one 
of whom, with the lordship, fell into the hands of John de 
Clinton ; but it is probable the castle was not inhabited 
after the above date, therefore would quickly fall to decay. 

The Moat is upon a much larger plan than Ulverley, 
takes in a compass of five acres, had two trenches ; the 
outer is nearly obliterated, but the inner is marked with 
the strongest lines we meet with. This trench is about 
twenty feet deep, and about thirty, yards from the crown of 
one bank to the other. When Dugdale saw it about a 
hundred and sixty years ago, the centre, which is about 
two acres, where the castle stood, was covered with old 
oaks ; round this centre are now some thousands the 
oldest of which is not more than a century ; so that the 
timber is changed since the days of Dugdale, but not the 
appearance of the land. The centre is bare of timber, and 
exhibits the marks of the plough. The late Benjamin 
Palmer, Esq. a few years ago, planted it with trees, which 
are in that dwindling state, that they are not likely to grow 
so tall as their master.* 

* He measured about six feet five inches, but was singularly short in the 



448 HISTORY OF 

A place of such desolation, one would think, was -a place 
of silence — just the reverse. When I saw it, Feb. 1783, 
the trees were tall, the winds- high, and the roar tre- 
mendous. 

Exclusive of Ulveiiey and Hogg's Moat, there are many 
old foundations in Solihull, once the residence of gentry 
now extinct ; as Solihull Hall, the Moat House, and 
Kynton, the property of the Botolers ;. Bury Hall, that of 
the 1 Warings; who both came over with William ; Henwood, 
belonging to the Hugfords ; Hillfleld Hall, the ancient seat 
of the Gres wolds, as Malvern was their modern. 

Yardley. 

At Yardley Church, four miles east of Birmingham, is 
The Moat, now a pasture ; the trench still retains, its 
water, as a remembrance of its former use. This was 
anciently the property of the Allestrees, lords of Witton ; 
but about forty years ago, the building and the family 
expired tog-ether. 

Kent's Moat. 

One mile farther east is Kent's Moat, in which no noise 
is heard but the singing of birds, as if for joy that their 
enemy is fled, and they have regained their former habita- 
tion. 

This is situate on an eminence, like that of Park Hall, 
is capacious, has but one trench, supplied by its own 

lower parts : his step was not larger than a child's of ten years old. His 
carriage, by its extraordinary height, looked at v. distance like a moving 
steeple : he sat as high in a common chair, as a man of the middle size 
stands ; he was as immoderately heavy as he was tall, and as remarkable for 
good nature as either. As a man he shone by his bulk ; as a magistrate, in a 
dull but honest light — his decisions were intended to be just. He seemingly 
dozed as he walked ; but if his own eyes were half shut, those of every other 
person were open to see him. 



BIRMINGHAM. _ 449 

springs ; and, like that, as complete as earth and water 
can make it. 

This was part of Coleshill, and vested in the crown 
before the conquest, but soon after granted with that to 
Clinton, who gave it with a daughter to Verdon ; and he, 
with another, to Anselm de Scheldon, who kept it till the 
reign of Edward the III. ; it afterwards passed through 
several families, till the reign of Henry the VII., when it 
came into that of De Gray, Earl of Kent, whence the 
name ; though, perhaps, the works were erected by 
Scheldon. 

It is now, with Coleshill, the property of Lord Dig by ; 
but the building has been so long gone, that tradition her- 
self has lost it. 

Sheldon. 

One mile east is Sheldon Hall, which anciently bore the 
name of East Hall, in contradiction from Kent's Moat, 
which was West Hall. This, in 1379, was the property of 
Sir Hugh le Despenser, afterwards of the family of Deve- 
reux, ancestor of the present Viscount Hereford, who resided 
here till about 1710. In 1751, it was purchased by John 
Taylor, Esq. and is now possessed by his tenant. 

The Moat, like others on an eminence, has but one 
trench, fed by the land springs ; is filled up in the front of 
the hall, as there is not much need of water protection. 
The house, which gives an idea of former gentility, seems 
the first erected on the spot ; is irregular, agreeable to the 
taste of the times, and must have been built many centu- 
ries. All the ancient furniture fled with its owners, except 
an hatchment in the hall, with sixteen coats of arms, 
specifying the families into which they married. 

King's Hurst. 

Two furlongs east of Sheldon Hall, and one mile south 

3 M 



450 HISTORY OF 

of Castle Bromwich, is King's Hurst ; which, though now 
a dwelling in tenancy, was once the capital of a large tract 
of land, consisting of its own manor, Coleshill, and Shel- 
don ; the demesne of the crown, under Saxon kings, from 
whom we trace the name. 

The Conqueror, or his son William, granted it to Mount- 
fort, but whether for money, service, caprice, or favour, is 
uncertain j for he who wears a crown acts as whimsically 
as he who does not. 

Mountfort came over with William, as a knight, and an 
officer of rank ; but perhaps, did not immediately receive 
the grant, for the King would act again much like other 
people, give ■ away their property, before he icould give 
atoay his own. . 

If this unfortunate family were not the first grantees, 
they were lords, and probably residents of King's Hurst, 
long before their possession of Coleshill in 1332, and by a 
younger branch, long after the unhappy attainder of Sir 
Simon in 1497. 

Sir William Moun,tfort, in 1390, augmented the build- 
ings, erected a chapel, and inclosed the manor. His 
grandson, Sir Edmund, in 1447, paled in some of the 
land, and dignified it with the fashionable name of 
park, 

This prevailing humour of imparking was unknown to 
the Saxons, it crept in with the Norman ; some of the first 
we meet with are those of Nottingham. Wedgnock, and 
Woodstock — Nottingham, by William Peveral, illegitimate 
son of the Conqueror ; Wedgnock, by Newburg, the first 
Norman Earl of Warwick ; and Woodstock, by Henry 
the I. So that the Duke of Marlborough perhaps may 
congratulate himself with possessing the oldest park in 
use. t) 

The modern park is worth attention ; some are delight- 
ful in the extreme ; they are the beauties of creation, 



BIRMINGHAM. 451 

terrestrial paradises j they are nature cautiously assisted 
by invisible art. We envy the little being who presides 
over one — -but why should we envy him ? the pleasure con- 
sists in seei?ig, and one man may see as well as another ; 
nay, the stranger holds a privilege beyond him ; for the 
proprietor, by often seeing, losses the beauties, while he 
who looks but seldom, sees with full effect. Besides one is 
liable to be fretted by the mischievous hand of injury, 
which the stranger seldom sees ; he looks for excellence, 
the owner for defect, and they both find. 

These proud inclosures guarded by the growth within, 
first appeared under the dimension of one or two hundred 
acres ; but fashion, emulation, and the park, grew up 
together, till the last swelled, into one or two thou- 
sand. 

If religions rise from the lowest ranks, the fashions 
generally descend from the higher, who are at once blamed 
and imitated by their inferiors. The highest orders of 
men lead up a fashion, the next class tread upon their heels, 
the third quickly follow, then the fourth, fifth, &c. imme- 
diately figure after them. But as a man who had an 
inclination for a park, could not always spare a thousand 
acres, he must submit to less, for a park must be had ; 
thus Bond, of Ward End, set up with thirty ; some with 
one half, till the very word became a burlesque upon the 
idea. The design was a display of lawns, hills, water, 
clumps, &c. as if ordered by the voice of nature ; and 
furnished with herds of deer. But some of our modern 
parks contain none of these beauties, nor scarcely land 
enough to support a rabbit. 

I am possessed of one of these jokes of a park, some- 
thing less than an acre ; — he that has none might think 
it a good joke, and wish it his own ; he that has more 
would despise it ; that it never was larger, appears from its 
being surrounded by Sutton Coldfield ; and that it has re- 



452 HISTORY OF 

tained the name for ages, appears from the old timber 
'upon it. 

The manor of King's Hurst was disposed of by the 
Mountforts about two hundred years ago, to the Digbys, 
where it remains. 

Coleshill. 

One mile farther east is Coleshill Hall, vested in the 
crown before and after the conquest ; purchased, perhaps, 
of William Rufus, by Geoffrey de Clinton, ancestor to the 
present Duke of Newcastle. In 1352, an heiress of the 
house of Clinton gave it, with herself, to Sir John de 
Mountfort, of the same family with Simon, the great Earl 
of Leicester, who fell, in 1265, at Evesham, in that remark- 
able contest with Henry the III. 

With them it continued till 1497, when Sir Simon 
Mountfort, charged, but perhaps unjustly, with assisting" 
Perkin Warbeck with £30, was brought to trial at Guild- 
hall, condemned as a traitor, executed at Tyburn, his large 
fortune confiscated, and his family ruined. Some of his 
descendants I well know in Birmingham ; and they are 
well known to poverty, and the vice. 

In the reign of Henry the VII., it was almost dangerous, 
particularly for a rich man, even to think against a 
crafty and avaricious monarch. What is singular, the 
man who accused Sir Simon at the bar, succeeded him in 
his estate. 

Simon Digby procured a grant of the place, in whose 
line it still continues. The hall is inhabited, but has been 
left about forty years by the family ; was probably erected 
by the Mountforts, is extensive, and its antique aspect 
without, gives a venerable pleasure to the beholder, like 
the half admitted light diffused within. Every spot of 
the park is delightful, except that in which the hall stands ; 



BIRMINGHAM. 



453 



our ancestors built in the vallies, for the sake of water ; 
their successors on the hills, for the sake of air. 

From this uncouth swamp sprung- the philosopher, 
the statesman, and tradition says, the gunpowder plot. 

Duddeston. 

Four furlongs north east of Birmingham is Duddeston 
(Dud's Town) from Dud, the Saxon proprietor, Lord of 
Dudley, who probably had a seat here ; once a consider- 
able village, but long reduced to the manor-house, till Bir- 
mingham, swelling beyond its bounds, in 1764 verged 
upon this lordship; and in 1783, we beheld about eighty 
houses, under the names of Duke Street, Prospect Row, 
and Woodcock Lane. From which time, to. the present 
day, May 20, 1793, is the following increase : Belle 
Mount (Watery Lane), twenty-six houses ; St. George's 
Street, five ; Lawley Street, seventy-three ; Windsor Street, 
sixty -three: Henry Street, seven; Great Brook Street, 
forty-five; Vauxhall Row (the turnpike road) ninety- 
two ; exclusive of a Methodist Meeting House, Barracks 
for the Military, and Ashsted Chapel, for episcopal 
worship. 

It afterwards descended to the Paganalls, the Sumeris, 
then to the Bottetourts, and was, in 1323, enjoyed by Joan 
Bottetourt, lady of Weoley Castle, a daughter of the house 
of Sumeri. 

Sir Thomas de Erdington held it of this lady, by a chief 
rent, which was a pair of gilt spurs, or sixpence, at the 
option of the tenant. 

Erdington sold it, in 1327, to Thomas de Maidenhache, 
by whose daughter, Sibell, it came in marriage to Adam 
de Grymsorwe, whose posterity, in 1363, conveyed it for 
£26 13^. 4d. now worth £20,000 to John atte Holt ; and 
his successors made it their residence till the erection of 
Aston Hall, in the reign of James I. 



454 HISTORY OF 

It is now converted into beautiful gardens, as a public 
resort of pleasure, and dignified with the London name of 
Vauxhall. The demolished fish-ponds, and the old 
foundations, which repel the spade, declare its former 
grandeur. 

In 1782 it quitted, by one of the most unaccountable 
assignments that ever resulted from human weakness, the 
ancient name of Holt, familiar during four hundred and 
nineteen years, for that of Legge. 

Could the ghost of Sir Lister re-visit his departed pro- 
perty, one might ask, What reception might you meet 
with, Sir Lister, in 1770, among your venerable ancestors 
in the shades, for barring-, unprovoked, an infant heiress 
of £7000 a year, and giving- it, unsolicited, to a stranger ? 
Perhaps you experience repeated buffettings ; a sturdy 
figure, with iron aspect, would be apt to accost you — "I 
with nervous arm, and many a bended back, drew £40 
from the Birmingham forge, with which, in 1330, I pur- 
chased the park and manor of Nechels, now worth four 
hundred times that sum. I planted that family which you 
have plucked up by the roots ; in the sweat of my brow, I 
laid a foundation for greatness ; many of my successors 
built on that foundation — but you, by starving your 
brother, Sir Charles, into compliance, wantonly cut off the 
entail, and gave away the estate, after passing through 
seventeen descents, merely to show you had a power to 
give it. We concluded here, that a son of his daughter, 
the last hope of the family, would change his own name 
to preserve ours, and not the estate change its possessor." 
— " I (another would be apt to say), with frugal hand, and 
lucrative employments under the crown, added, in 1363, 
the manor of Duddeston ; and, in 1367, that of Aston. 
But for what purpose did I add them ? To display the 
folly of a successor." — A dejected spectre would seem to 
step forward, whose face carried the wrinkles of eighty- 



BIRMINGHAM." 455 

four, and the shadow of a tear ; " I, in 1611, brought the 
title of baronet among us, first tarnished by you ; which, 
if your own imbecility could not procure issue to support, 
you ought to have supported it by purchase. I also, in 
1620, erected the mansion at Aston, then, and even now, 
the most superb in that neighbourhood, fit to grace the 
leading- title of nobility ; but you forbad my successors to 
enter. I joined, in 1647, to our vast fortune, the manor 
of Erdington. Thus the fabric we have been rearing for 
ages, you overthrew in one fatal moment." — The last 
angry spectre would appear in the bloom of life. " I left 
you an estate which you did not deserve ; you had no 
more right to leave it from your successor, than I to leave 
it from you ; one man may ruin the family of another, but 
he seldom ruins his own. We blame him who wrongs his 
neighbour, but what does he deserve who wrongs himself ? 
You have done both, for by cutting off the succession, 
your name will be lost. The ungenerous attorney, instead 
of making your absurd will, ought to have apprized you 
of our sentiments, which exactly coincide with those of the 
world, or how could the tale affect a stranger ? Why did not 
some generous friend guide your crazy vessel, and save a 
sinking family ? Degenerate son, he who destroys the 
peace of another, should forfeit his own — we leave 
you to remorse, may she quickly find, and weep over 
you." 

This ancient family, that sprang from the anvil, sported 
upon an estate worth £12,000 a year, is now sunk into its 
pristine obscurity. Its head, Edward Holt (perhaps Sir 
Edward) thumped at the anvil many years for bread, in 
the fabrication of spades. A most amiable man of his 
race, and the only baronet that ever shaped a shovel. 

The descendant of the above named Edward Holte, 
does or did lately dance at the lathe, a few hundred yards 
from the boundaries of the estates of his ancestors, now in 



456 HISTORY OF 

the possession of a variety of proprietors, having been 
sold in lots in the year 1818. The park was about this 
time dismantled of most of its stately trees. The 
antique furniture of the hall sold by auction, and the land 
in the park let for tillage or pasture to various tenants. 

The hall is now occupied by James Watt, Esq., son of 
the celebrated James Watt, improver of the steam engine. 
Mr. Watt served the office of sheriff for the county of 
Warwick, in the year, 1829. The hall may be seen from 
the Lichfield road, through an avenue of stately elms, 
about half a mile in length. The hall and the avenue 
have much the same appearance as formerly, although 
some of the trees have been felled. 

Aston Church. 

The parish church of Aston, which is dedicated to 
Saints Peter and Paul, is situated about two miles from 
the centre of Birmingham, close to the park, and very near 
the hall. It is ornamented with a tall spire, and contains 
many ancient monuments of the Holts, the Ardens, and 
the Devereux. The windows are of painted glass, by 
Egington, one of- which represents the resurrection of 
the lady to whose memory it is erected. The vicarage 
house stands a short distance from the church, a large 
mansion erected a few years ago. The present vicar is the 
Rev. George Owsley Fenwicke, M. A., who is a sur- 
rogate for granting marriage licenses. Sir Thomas Holte, 
who died in 1654, left by will sufficient to build the alms- 
houses, situated near the church, and £84 annually from 
his manor of Erdington for their support. The above 
Sir Thomas Holte formed the park, and built the present 
hall, which was commenced in 1.618, and finished, 1636. 
He was favourable to the royal cause during the rebellion, 
and entertained Charles the I., for two days, about the 
17th of October, 1642, when on his march to meet the 



BIRMINGHAM. 



457 



parliament forces. The rebels, as was before stated, 
plundered the king of his plate, and fired at and plundered 
the hall of Sir Thomas, for his hospitality to the monarch. 
The effects of the cannon shot are still visible on the 
fractured balustrades of the great staircase, and until the 
furniture was sold in 1818, the state bed, in which King 
Charles slept, was shown to visitors. 

Edgbaston. 
The parish of Edgbaston joins the parish of Birmingham 
on the west and south-west, and is bounded on the other 
sides by Harbourn and King's Norton. Edgbaston was 
possessed by Henry de Edgbaston, in the reign of Henry 
the II., and afterwards by the family of Middlemore, till 
the year 1717, when Sir Richard Gough, ancestor of Lord 
Calthorpe, the present possessor, purchased the lordship 
and nearly the whole of the parish of Edgbaston, for 
£25,000. The Manor House was garrisoned by the par- 
liament army, at the civil wars of Charles the I., and the 
church was destroyed to prevent it being- occupied by the 
king's forces. The Hall was afterwards destroyed by the 
populace, to prevent it becoming a refuge for papists, 
previous to the landing of the Prince of Orange, in 1C88, 
and remained in ruins till purchased by Sir Richard 
Goug-h. It stands in a small but beautifully situated 
park, in which is a large sheet of water, and a considerable 
quantity of timber. The house was plundered in 1791, 
and would have been burnt, but for the arrival of the 
military, in town, which scared the mob from their object. 
It was then occupied by Dr. Withering-, but now, and for 
many years past, by Dr. Edward Johnstone. Edgbaston 
has become of late years a favourite place of retreat to 
those who have basked in the sunshine of commercial 
prosperity. The salubrity of the air and the dryness of 
the soil, the exclusion of manufactures and small houses 

3 N 



458 history or 

renders it a pleasant residence for persons of wealth. 
Should this estate remain undivided for a century, it will, 
probably, become the richest in this part of the kingdom. 
The Worcester Canal, and the roads to Bromsgrove, 
Hales Owen, Hagley, Stourbridge, and Harbourn, pass 
through this parish. The church, soon after the restoration 
was rebuilt, repaired in 1717, and again almost entirely 
rebuilt in 1810 ; the tower, and a part of the east end, 
are all that remain of the old building. The ancient 
monuments are all destroyed. 

The church stands upon an elevated spot, near the 
park, in an enclosed cemetery. Minister, the Rev. Charles 
Pixell. 

Saltley. 

A mile east of Duddeston is Saltley Hall, which, with 
an extensive tract of ground, was, in the Saxon times, the 
freehold of a person whom we should now call Allen ; the 
same who was Lord of Birmingham. But at the con- 
quest, when justice was laid asleep, and property possessed 
by him who could seize it, this manor, with many others, 
fell into the hands of William Fitz-Ausculf, Baron of 
Dudley Castle, who granted it in knight's service to Henry 
de Rokeby. 

A daughter of Rokeby carried it by marriage to Sir 
John Goband, whose descendants, in 1332, sold it to 
Walter de Clodshale ; an heiress of Clodshale, in 1426, 
brought it into the ancient family of Arden, and a 
daughter of this house to that of Adderley, where it now 
rests. 

The castle, I have reason to think, was erected by 
Rokeby, in which all the lords resided till the extinction 
of the Clodshales. It has been gone to ruin about three 
hundred years, and the solitary platform seems to mourn 
its loss 



BIRMINGHAM. 450 

Ward End 

Three miles from Birmingham, in the same direction, 
is Ward End, anciently Little Bromioich ; a name de- 
rived from the plenty of broom, and is retained to this day 
by part of the precincts, Broomford (Bromford) 

This manor was claimed by that favourite of the Con- 
queror, Fitz-Ausculf, and granted by him to a second- 
hand favourite, who took its name. 

The old castle has been gone about a century; the 
works are nearly complete, cover about nine acres, the 
most capacious in this neighbourhood, those of Woley 
Castle excepted. The central area is now an orchard, 
and the water, which guarded the castle, guards the fruit. 
This is surrounded with three mounds, and three trenches, 
one of them fifty yards over, which, having" lost its master, 
guards the fish. 

The place afterwards passed through several families, 
till the reign of Henry the VII. One of them bearing the 
name of Ward, changed the name to Ward End. 
. In 1512, it was the property of John Bond, who, fond 
of his little hamlet, inclosed a park of thirty acres, 
stocked it with deer ; and, in 1517, erected a chapel for 
the conveniency of his tenants, being two miles from the 
parish church of Aston. The skeleton of this chapel, in 
the form of a cross, the fashion of the times, is yet 
standing on the outward mound; its floor is the only 
religious one I have seen laid with horse-dung ; the pulpit 
is converted into a manger— it formerly furnished husks 
for the man, but now corn for the horse. Like the first 
christian church, it has experienced a double use, a church 
and a stable ; but with this difference, that in Bethlehem 
was a stable advanced into a church ; this, on the con- 
trary, is reduced into a stable. This chapel has lately 
been restored by private subscription. 



460 HISTORY OF 

The manor, by a female, passed through the Kinards- 
leys, and is now possessed by the Brandwoods ; but the 
hall, erected in 1710, and its environs, are the property of 
Isaac Spooner, Esq. 

Castle Bromwich. 
Simply Bromwich, because the soil in productive of 
broom. 

My subject often leads me back to the conquest, an 
enterprize, wild without parallel ; we are astonished at 
the undertaking, because William was certainly a man of 
sense, and a politician. Harold, his competitor, was a 
prince much superior in power, a consummate general, 
and beloved by his people. The odds were so much 
against the invader, that out of one hundred such im- 
prudent attempts, ninety-nine would miscarry ; all the 
excuse in his favour is, it succeeded. Many causes con- 
curred in this success, such as his own ambition, aided by 
his valour ; the desperate fortune of his followers, very 
few of whom were men of property, for to the appearance 
of gentlemen, they added the realities of want ; a situation 
to which any change is thought preferable ; but, above 
all, chance. A man may dispute for religion, he may 
contend for liberty, he may run for his life, but he wiling ht 
for property. 

By the contest between William and Harold, the un- 
happy English lost all they had to lose ; and though this 
all centered in the Normans, they did not acquire sufficient 
to content them. 

History does not inform us who was then the proprietor 
of Castle Bromwich, but that it belonged to the Mercian 
Earls scarcely admits a doubt; as Edwin owned some 
adjoining' manors, he probably owned this. Fitz-Ausculf 
was his fortunate successor, who procured many lordships 
in the neighbourhood of Birmingham ; Castle Bromwich 



BIRMINGHAM 461 

was one. He granted it to an inferior Norman, in military 
tenure, who, ag-reeable to the fashion of those times, took 
the surname of Bromwich. 

Henry de Castel was a subsequent proprietor. Dugdale 
supposes the village took its name from a castle, once on 
the premises, and that the castle hill yet remains ; but 
this hill is too small, even to admit a shelter for a Lillipu- 
tian, and is evidently an artificial trifle, designed for a 
monument. It might hold, for its ancient furniture, a 
turret, termed a castle — perhaps it held nothing in Dug- 
dale's time ; the modern is a gladiator, in the attitude of 
fighting, supported by a pedestal, containing the Bridge- 
man's arms. 

Castle, probably, was added by the family of that name, 
lords of the place, to distinguish it from woody, and little 
Bromwich. They bore for their arms, three castles and a 
chevron. 

Lord Ferrers, of Chartley, who was proprietor of Bir- 
mingham in the reign of Henry the VI., enjoyed it by 
marriage; and his grand-daughter brought it, by the 
same channel, into the family of Devereux, Lords of 
Sheldon. Edward, about the latter end of Queen Eliza- 
beth's reign, erected the present building, which is capa- 
cious, is in a style between ancient and modern, and has a 
pleasing appearance. 

The Bridgeman family acceded to possession about 
1712, by purchase, and made it their residence 
till about 1768. We should naturally inquire, Why 
Sir Harry quitted a place so delightfully situated? 
Perhaps it is not excelled in this country, in the junction 
of three great roads, a desirable neighbourhood, the 
river Tame at its back, and within five miles of the 
plentiful market of Birmingham — but, alas, it has no 
'park. 

The gentry seem to have resided in our vicinity, when 



462 HISTORY OF 

there was the greatest inducement to leave it, impassable 
roads ; they seem also to have quitted the country, now 
there is the greatest inducement to reside there ; roads, 
which improve their estates, and may be travelled with 
pleasure. It may be objected, that " the buildings become 
ancient." But there is no more disgrace in an old house, 
than in an old man ; they may both be dressed in cha- 
racter, and look well. A gentleman, by residing in the 
family seat, pays a compliment to his ancestors. 

Park Hall. 

Six miles north east of Birmingham, and one from 
Castle Bromwich chapel, is a spacious moat, with one 
trench, which, for many centuries, guarded Park Hall. 
This is another of those desolate islands, from which 
every creature is fled, and every sound, except that of the 
winds ; nay, even the very clouds seem to lament the 
desolation with tears. 

This was possessed by none but the Ardens, being- 
part of their vast estate long before the conquest, and 
five hundred years after. A delightful situation on the 
banks of the Tame ; to which we are led through a dirty 
road. 

We may 'consider this island the treasury into which 
forty-six lordships paid their tribute. The riches of the 
country were drawn to this centre, and commands were 
issued from it. The growth of these manors supplied that 
spot, which now grows for another. The lordships are 
in forty-six hands ; the country is in silence ; the island 
ploughed up, and the family distressed — At the remem- 
brance of their name, the smile quits the face of history ; 
she records their sad tale with a sigh ; while their arms 
are yet displayed in some of the old halls in the neigh- 
bourhood. 



BIRMINGHAM. 463 

Berwood 

Crossing the river one mile farther east, is Berwood 
Hall, where the forsaken moat, at this day, guards 
nothing. This, with the manor to which it belongs, 
was also the property of the Ardens ; one of which, in 
the reign of Henry the II., granted it to the canons of 
Leicester ; who added a chapel, which went to decay four 
hundred years ago. After the grant, the Ardens seem to 
have become tenants to the canons for the land, once their 
own ; we frequently observe a man pay rent for what he 
sells, but seldom for what he gives. 

At the dissolution of abbies in 1,537, Thomas Arden, 
the head of the family, purchased it of Henry the VIII., 
for £272 10s. uniting it again to his estate, after a separa- 
tion of three hundred and fifty years, in whose posterity it 
continued till their fall. Thus, the father first purchased 
what the son gave away, and his offspring re-purchased 
again. The father lays a tax on his successor or climbs 
to heaven at the expense of the son. In one age it is 
meritorious to give to the church, in another to take 
from her. 

Erdington. 

Three miles north east of Birmingham, is Erdington 
Hall, which boasts a long- antiquity. The manor was 
the property of the old Earls of Mercia ; Edwin pos- 
sessed it at the conquest, but lost it in favour of William 
Fitz-Ausculf, who, no doubt, granted it in knight's service 
to his friend and relation, of Norman race ; he erected 
the hall and the moat ; took his residence in, and his name 
Erdington, from the place. His descendants seem to 
have resided here with great opulence near four hundred 
years. 

Dugdale mentions a circumstance of Sir Thomas de 



4G4 HISTORY OF 

Erdington, little noticed by our historians. He was a 
faithful adherent to King John, who conferred on him 
many valuable favours ■ harrassed by the Pope on one 
side, and his angry barons on the other, he privately sent 
Sir Thomas to Murmeli, the powerful King of Africa, 
Morocco, and Spain, with offers to forsake the Christian 
faith, turn Mahometan, deliver up his kingdom, and hold 
it of him in tribute, for his assistance against his enemies. 
But it does not appear the ambassador succeeded; the 
Moorish monarch did not choose to unite his prosperous 
fortune with that of a random prince ; he might also con- 
sider, the man who could destroy his nephew and his 
sovereign, could not be an honour to any profession. 

The manor left the Erdington family in 1472, and, 
during a course of one hundred and seventy-five years, 
acknowledged for its owners, George Plantagenet, Duke 
of Clarence, Sir William Harcourt, Robert Wright, Sir 
Reginald Bray, Francis Englefield, Humphry Dimock, 
Walter Earl, Sir Walter Devereux, and was, in 1647, 
purchased by Sir Thomas Holte, in whose family it con- 
tinued till 1782, when Heneage Legge, Esq., became 
seized of the manor. 

As none of the Lords seem to have resided upon the 
premises since the departure of the Erdingtons, it must be 
expected they have gradually tended to decay. 

We may with some reason conclude, that as Erdington 
was the freehold of the Earls of Mercia, it was not the 
residence of its owners, therefore could not derive its name 
from them. That as the word Arden signifies a wood, 
the etymology of that populous village is, a ioion in the 
ivood. That one of the first proprietors, after the con- 
quest, struck with the security offered by the river, erected 
the present fortifications, which cover three parts of the 
hall, and the river itself the fourth. Hence it follows, 
that the neighbouring work, which we now call Bromford- 



BIRMINGHAM. 465 

forge, was a mill prior to the conquest, because the stream 
is evidently turned out of its bed to feed it; that the 
present hall is the second on the premises, and was erected 
by the Erdingtons, with some later additions. 

Pipe. 

One mile north east of Erdington, is Pipe Hall, which, 
with its manor, like the neighbouring land, became, at 
the conquest, the property of Fitz-Ausculf, and afterwards 
of his descendants, Paganall, Sumeri, Bottetort, and St. 
Leger. 

It was common at that fatal period, for one of these 
great barons, or rather great robbers, to procure a large 
quantity of land for himself; some of them two or three 
hundred thousand acres — too much for one man to grasp. 
He therefore kept what he pleased for his private use, and 
granted the other in knight's service, reserving annually a 
rent. These rents were generally small, so as never to 
hurt the tenant ; however, the lord could order him to arms 
whenever he pleased. 

A few of the grants were procured by the disinherited 
English, but chiefly by the officers of William's army, 
being more respected, and more proper to be trusted ; they 
were often relations, or favourites of the great barons. 
The lord could not conveniently sell without the consent of 
the crown, but he could set at what price he pleased. Time 
made this chief-rent permanent, and gave the tenant 
stability of title. 

The manor of Pipe, with some others, was granted to 
William Mansell, who resided in the hall, and executed 
some of the chief offices of the county. 

The last of the name, in the reign of Henry the III., 
left a daughter, who married Henry de Harcourt; and his 
daughter married John de Pipe, who seems to have taken 
its name. 

3 o 



466 HISTORY OF 

Henry, his descendant, had many children, all of whom, 
with his lady, died of the plague, except a daughter, 
Margery. He afterwards married, in 1363, Matilda, the 
daughter of George de Castell, of Castle Bromwich ; but 
soon after the happy wedding, he perceived his bride was 
pregnant, which proved, on inquiry, the effect of an 
intrigue with her father's menial servant; a striking 
instance of female treachery, which can only be equalled 
by — male. 

The shock proving too great for his constitution, brought 
on a decline, and himself to the grave, before the birth of 
the child. 

John was the fruit of this unlawful amour, whose guardian, 
to prevent his inheriting the estate, made him a canon of 
Ouston, in Leicestershire : and afterwards persuaded the 
unhappy Margery to grant the manor to the Abbot of 
Stonely. 

Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, afterwards 
purchased it for £133 6s. Sd. It came to the crown by 
attainder, in the reign of Henry the VII. ; then to Sir 
William Staunford, one of his judges, John Buttler, 
Edward Holte in 1568, Francis Dimock, whose daughter 
married Walter Earl; then to Walter Devereux, by 
marrying Earl's daughter; afterwards to Sir Thomas 
Holte, by purchase ; and is now in the family of Bagot. 

Though the hall is antique, its front is covered in the 
modern barbarous style, by a clump of venerable trees ; 
which would become any situation but that in which they 
stand. It is now inhabited by a gentleman of Birming- 
ham, who has experienced the smiles of commerce. 

Aston. 
Two miles north of Birmingham, is Aston (East Town), 
being east of Westbury (Wednesbury), it lies on a steep 
descent towards the river Tame. 



,3 




BIRMINGHAM. 467 

This place, like that of Edrington, belonged to the Earls 
of Mercia in the Saxon times ; and, at the conquest was 
the property of the unfortunate Edwin. Fitz-Ausculf 
became his successor in this, and other lands ; the survey 
calls it eight hides, valued at £5 per annum ; a mill, three 
shillings, and a wood three miles long-, and half a mile 
broad. The mill, I make no doubt, stood where a mill 
now stands, near Sawford Bridge ; but neither the hides, 
nor the wood, could be confined within the boundary of 
Aston ; the manor is too little for either. The lordship 
extends about a square mile, and that part which is now 
the park, I have reason to think, was then a common, and 
for ages after. 

A Saxon, of the name of Godmund, held it under the 
Mercian Earls, and found means, at the conquest, to hold 
it under the Norman. 

One hundred yards north of the church, in a perfect 
swamp, stood the hall ; probably erected by Godmund^ or 
his family ; the situation shews the extreme of bad taste — 
one would think, he endeavoured to lay his house under 
the water. The trenches are obliterated by the floods, so 
as to render the place unobserved by the stranger ; it is 
difficult to choose a worse, except he had put his house 
under the earth. I believe there never was more than 
one house erected upon the spot, and that was one too 
much. 

Whether this Saxon family of Godmund became extinct, 
or had lost their right, is uncertain ; but Sumeri, Fitz- 
Ausculf 's successor, about 1203, granted the manor to 
Sir Thomas de Erdington, Ambassador to King John, 
mentioned before, who had married his sister; paying 
annually a pair of spurs, or sixpence, as a nominal rent, 
but meant, in reality, as a portion for the lady. 

The family of Erdington, about 1 275, sold it to Thomas 
de_Maidenhache, who did not seem to live upon friendly 



468 



HISTORY OF 



terms with his neighbour, William de Birmingham ; for, 
in 1290, he brought an action against him for fishing in 
•his water, called Moysich (Dead Branch) leading into 
Tame, towards Scarford Bridge (Shareford, dividing the 
shares, or parts of the parish, Aston Manor from Edring- 
ton, now Sawford Bridge) which implies a degree of un- 
kindness ; because William could not amuse himself in his 
own manor of Birmingham, for he might as well have 
angled in one of his streets, as in the river Rea. The two 
lords had, probably, four years before been on friendly 
terms, when they jointly lent their assistance to the hospital 
of St. Thomas, in Birmingham. 

Maidenhache left four daughters ; Sibel married Adam 
de Grymsorwe, who took with her the manor of Aston ; a 
daughter of this house, in 1367, sold it to John atte Holte, 
of Birmingham, in whose family it continued four hundred 
and fifteen years, till 1782, when Heneage Legge, Esq. 
acceded to possession. 

This wretched bog was the habitation of all the lords, 
from Godmund to the Holtes, the Erdingtons excepted ; 
for Maud Grymsorwe executing the conveyance at Aston, 
indicates that she resided there ; and Thomas Holte, being 
possessed of Duddeston, proves that he did not ; therefore 
I conclude, that the building, as it ought, went to decay 
soon after ; so that desolation has claimed the place for her 
own near four hundred years. This is corroborated by 
some old timber trees, long since upon the spot where the 
building stood. 

The extensive parish of Aston takes in the two extremes 
of Birmingham, which supplies her with more christenings, 
weddings, and burials, than were, a few years ago, supplied 
by the whole parish of Birmingham. 



Witton 



Three miles north of Birmingham, and one from Aston 



BIRMINGHAM. 



469 



is Witton (Wicton) from the bend of the river, according 
to Dugdale ; the property of a person at the conquest 
whose name was Staunchel. Fitz-Ausculf seized it, and 
Staunchel, more fortunate than the chief of his countrymen, 
became his tenant ; valued in the conqueror's survey at 
twenty shillings per annum. 

It was afterwards vested in the crown ; in 1240, Henry 
the III. granted it to Andrew de Wicton, who took his 
name from the place, for in Doomsday it is Wit one ; there- 
fore the name being prior, proves the remark. 

Andrew, anxious after the boundary of his new purchase, 
brought an action against his neighbour, William de Pyrie 
(Perry) for infringing his property. Great disputes arise 
fiom small beginnings ; perhaps a lawyer blew the flame. 

The king issued his precept to the Sheriff of Stafford- 
shire, in which Perry lies, to bring with him twelve lawful 
and discreet knights ; and the same to the Sheriff of 
Warwickshire, of which Witton is part, to ascertain the 
bounds between them. Which was the aggressor, is hard 
to determine, but I should rather suppose 'Squire Perry, 
because man is ever apt to trespass ; he resided on the 
premises, and the crown is but a sleepy landlord ; not so 
likely to rob, as to be robbed. 

: There is a road, where foot seldom treads, mounded on 
each side, leading over the Coldfield, from Perry Bridge 
towards the Newlands, undoubtedly the work of this vene- 
rable band of discreet knights. 

The stranger, of course, would deem the property between 
the contending parties of great value, which twenty-four 
of the principal characters of the age, the flower of two 
counties, marshalled by two chief officers, were to deter- 
mine. But what will he think of the quarrelsome spirit of 
the times, when I tell him, it was only a few acres, which 
is, even at this day, waste land, and scarcely worth owning 
by either. 



470 HISTORY OF 

In 1290, Witton was the property of William Dixley ; 
in 1340, that of Richard de Pyrie, descendant of him, who, 
a hundred years before, held the contest. In 1426, Thomas 
East, of Hay Hall, in Yardley, was owner ; who sold it to 
John Bond, of Ward End, of whose descendants William 
Booth purchased it in 1620 ; an heiress of Booth brought 
it by marriage to Allestree, of Yardley, who enjoyed it in 
our days ; it was sold to John Wyrley, and is now pos- 
sessed by George Birch, Esq. of Hamstead. 

The house, left by its owners, is in that low, or rather 

boggy situation, suitable to the fashion of those times. 

I can discover no traces of a moat, though there is every 

conveniency for one : we are doubly hurt by seeing a 

house in a miserable hole, when joining an eligible spot. 

« 

Blakeley. 

Five miles north west of Birmingham, is Blakeley Hall, 
the manor house of Oldbury. If we see a venerable edifice 
without a moat, we cannot from thence conclude, it was 
never the residence of a gentleman, but wherever we find 
one, we may conclude it was. 

Anciently, this manor, with those of Smethwick and 
Harborn, belonged to the family of Cornwallis, whose 
habitation was Blakeley Hall. The present building seems 
about three hundred years old. 

The extinction of the male line, threw the property into 
the hands of two co-heirs ; one of whom married into the 
family of Grimshaw, the other into that of Wright, who 
jointly held it. The family of Grimshaw failing, Wright 
became then, and is now possessed of the whole. 

I am unacquainted with the principal characters who 
acted the farce of life on this island, but it has long been 
in the tenancy of a poor farmer, who the proprietor assured 
me, was best able to stock the place with children. In 
1769, the Birmingham Canal passing over the premises, 



BIRMINGHAM. 



471 



robbed the trench of its water. Whether it endangers the 
safety is a doubt, for poverty is the best security against 
violence. 

Weoley. 

Four miles west of Birmingham, in the parish of North- 
field, are the small, but extensive ruins of Weoley Castle, 
whose appendages command a tract of seventeen acres, 
situate in a park of eighteen hundred. 

These moats usually extend from half an acre to two 
acres, are generally square, and the trenches from eight 
yards over to twenty. 

This is large, the walls massy ; they form the alleys of a 
garden, and the rooms the beds ; they display the remains 
of excellent workmanship. One may nearly guess at a 
man's consequence, even after a lapse of five hundred 
years, by the ruins of his house. 

The steward told me, " they pulled down the walls as 
they wanted the stone." Unfeeling- projectors ; there is 
not so much to pull down. Does not time bring destruc- 
tion fast enough without assistance ? The head which 
cannot contemplate, offers its hand to destroy. The insen- 
sible taste, unable itself to relish the dry fruits of antiquity, 
throws them away to prevent another. May the fingers 
smart which injure the venerable walls of Dudley, or of 
Kenilworth. Noble remains of ancient grandeur ! copious 
indexes, that point to former usage; We survey them 
with awful pleasure. The mouldering walls, as if ashamed 
of their humble state, hide themselves under the ivys ; the 
generous ivies, as if conscious of the precious relics, cover 
them from the injuries of time. 

When land frequently undergoes a conveyance, necessity, 
we suppose, is the lot of the owner, but the lawyer fattens. 
To have and to hold are words of singular import ; they 
charm beyond music ; are the quintessence of language • 



472 HISTORY OF 

the leading 1 figure in rhetoric. But how would he fare it 
land was never conveyed ? He must starve upon quarrels. 

Instances may be given of land which knows no title, 
except those of conquest and descent; Weoley Castle 
comes nearly under this description. To sign, seal, and 
deliver, were wholly unknown to our ancestors. Could a 
Saxon freeholder rise from the dead, and visit the land, 
once his own, now held by as many writings as would half 
spread over it, he might exclaim, " Evil increases with 
time, and parchment with both. You deprive the poor of 
their breeches ; I covered the ground with sheep, you with 
their skins ; I thought, as you were at variance with 
France, Spain, Holland, and America, those numerous 
deeds were a heap of drum heads, and the internal writing 
the articles of war. In one instance, however, there is a 
a similarity between us ; we unjustly took this land from 
the Britons, you as unjustly took it from us ; and a time 
may come, when another will take it from you. Thus the 
Spaniards founded the Peruvian empire in butchery, now 
tottering towards a fall; you, following their example, 
seized the northern coast of America ; you neither bought 
it nor begged it, you took it from the natives ; and thus 
your children, the Americans, with equal violence have 
taken it from you : no law binds like that of arms. The 
question has been, whether they shall pay taxes ? which, 
after a dispute of eight years, was lost in another, to lohom 
they shall pay taxes ? The result, in a future day, will be, 
domestic struggles for sovereignty will stain the ground 
with blood." 

When the proud Norman cut his way to the throne, his 
imperious followers seized the lands, kicked out the right- 
ful possessors, and treated them with a dignity rather 
beneath that practised to a dog. This is the most summary 
title yet discovered. 

Northfield was the fee-simple of Alwold (Allwood) but, 



BIRMINGHAM. 



473 



at the conquest, Fitz-Ausculf seized it, with a multitude of 
other manors ; it does not appear that he granted it in 
knight's service to the injured Allwood, but kept it for his 
private use. Paganall married his heiress, and Sumeri 
married Paganall's, who, in the beginning of the thirteenth 
century, erected the castle. In 1322, the line of Sumeri 
expired. 

Bottetourt, one of the needy squires, who, like Sancho 
Panza, attended William his master, in his mad, but 
fortunate enterprize, procured lands which enabled him to 
live in England, which was preferable to starving in 
Normandy. His descendant became, in right of his wife, 
co-heir of the house of Sumeri, vested in Weoley castle. 
He had, in 1307, sprung into peerage, and was one of our 
powerful barons till 1385, when the male line dropped. 
The vast estate of Bottetourt was then divided among- 
females ; Thomas Berkley married the eldest, and this 
ancient barony was, in 1761, revived in his descendant, 
Norborne Berkley, the present Lord Bottetourt ; Sir 
Hugh Burnel married another, and Sir John St. Leger a 
third. 

Weoley castle was, for many years, the undivided 
estate of the three families ; but Edward Sutton, Lord 
Dudley, having married a daughter of Berkley became 
possessed of that castle, which was erected by Sumeri, 
their common ancestor, about nine generations before. 

In 1551, he sold it to William Jervoise, of London, 
mercer, whose descendant, Jervoise Clark Jervoise, Esq., 
now enjoys it. 

Fond of ranging, I have travelled a circuit round 
Birmingham, without being many miles from it. I wish 
to penetrate farther from the centre, but my subject forbids. 
Having therefore finished my discourse, I shall, like my 
friends, the pulpitarians, many of whom, and of several 

3 p 



474 HISTORY OF 

denominations, are characters I revere, apply what has 
been said. 

We learn, that the land I have gone over, with the land 
I have not, changed its owners at the conquest ; this shuts 
the door of inquiry into pedigree, the old families chiefly 
became extinct, and few of the present can be traced 
higher. — Destruction then overspread the kingdom. 

The seniors of every age exclaim against the growing 
corruption of the times : my father, and perhaps every 
father, dwelt on the propriety of his conduct in younger 
life, and placed it in counterview with that of the following- 
generation. However, while I knew him, it was much 
like other people's — But I could tell him, that he gave us 
the bright side of his character ; that he was, probably, a 
piece of human nature, as well as his son ; that nature 
varies but little, and that the age of William the Conqueror 
was the most rascally in the British annals. One age may 
be marked for the golden, another for the iron, but this 
for plunder. 

We farther learn, there is not one instance in this neigh- 
bourhood, where an estate is continued till now in the 
male line, very few in the female. I am acquainted with 
only one family near Birmingham, whose ancestor entered 
with William, and who yet enjoy the land granted at that 
period ; the male line has been once broken — perhaps this 
land was never conveyed. They shone with splendour 
near six hundred years. In the sixteenth century their 
estate was about £1400 a year; great for that time, but 
is now, exclusive of a few pepper-corns and red roses, long 
since withered, reduced to one little farm, tilled for bread 
by the owner. This setting glimpse of a shining family, is 
as indiiferent about the matter, and almost as ignorant, as 
the team he drives. 

Lastly, we learn that none of the lords, as formerly, 



BIRMINGHAM. 



475 



reside on the above premises ; that in four instances out of 
twenty-one, the buildings are now as left by the lords, 
Sheldon, Coleshill, Pipe, and Blakeley ; two have under- 
gone some alteration, as Duddesdon and Erdington ; five 
others are re- erected, as Black Greves, Ulverley, King's 
Hurst, Castle Bromwich, and Witton ; which, with all the 
above, are held in tenancy ; in eight others, all the build- 
ings are swept away, and their moats left naked, as Hogg's 
Moat, Yardley, Kent's Moat, Ward End, Park Hall, 
Berwood, and Weoley ; and in two instances the moats 
themselves are vanished, that of King's Norton is filled 
up to make way for the plough, and that of Aston 
demolished by the floods. Thus the scenes of hospitality 
and grandeur, become the scenes of antiquity, and then 
disappear. 

Sutton Coldfield. 

Though the topographical historian, who resides upon 
the premises, is most likely to be correct ; yet if he, with 
all his care, is apt to be mistaken, what can be expected 
from him who trots his horse over the scenes of antiquity ? 

I have visited, for thirty years, some singular places in 
this neighbourhood, yet, without being master of their 
history; thus a man may spend an age in conning his 
lesson, and never learn it. 

When the farmer observes me on his territories, he eyes 
me askance; suspecting- a design to purchase his farm, 
or take it out of his hands. I endeavour to remove his 
apprehensions, by approaching him ; and introduce a 
conversation tending to my pursuit, which he understands 
as well as if, like the sons of Jacob, I addressed him in 
Hebrew ; yet, notwithstanding his total ignorance of the 
matter, he has sometimes dropped an accidental word, 
which has thrown more light on the subject, than all my 
researches for a twelvemonth. If an honest farmer, in 



476 HISTORY OF 

future, should see upon his premises a plumpish figure, 
five feet six, with one third of his hair on, a cane in his 
left hand, a glove upon each, and a Pomeranian dog at 
his heels, let him fear no evil ; his farm will not be 
additionally tithed, his sheep worried, nor his hedges 
broken — it is only a solitary animal, in quest of a Roman 
phantom. 

Upon the north-west extremity of Sutton Coldfield, 
joining the Chester road, is The Bowen Pool ; at the tail 
of which, one hundred yards west of the road, on a 
small eminence, or swell of the earth, are the remains 
of a fortification, called Loaches Banks ; but of what 
use or original is uncertain, no author having men- 
tioned it. 

Four hundred yards farther west, in the same flat, is a 
hill of some magnitude, deemed, by the curious, a tumulus 
— it is a common thing for an historian to be lost, but not 
quite so common to acknowledge it. In attempting to 
visit this tumulus, I soon found myself in the centre of a 
morass ; and here, my dear reader might have seen the 
historian set fast in a double sense. I was obliged, for 
that evening, February 16, 1783, to retreat, as the sun 
had just clone before me. I made my approaches from 
another quarter, April 13, when the hill appeared the work 
of nature, upon too broad a base for a tumulus ; covering 
about three acres, perfectly round, rising gradually to the 
centre, which is about sixteen feet above the level, sur- 
rounded by a ditch, perhaps made for some private purpose 
by the owner. 

The Roman tumuli were of two sorts, the small, for the 
reception of a general, or great man, as that at Cloudsley 
Bush, near the High Cross, the tomb of Claudius ; and 
the large, as at Seckington, near Tam worth, for the 
reception of the dead, after a battle ; they are both of the 
same shape, rather high than broad. That before us 



BIRMINGHAM. 



477 



comes under the description of neither ; nor could the dead 
well be conveyed over the morass. 

The ground-plot, in the centre of the fort, at Loaches 
Banks, is about two acres, surrounded by three mounds, 
which are large, and three trenches, which are small ; the 
whole forming- a square of four acres. Each corner 
directs to a cardinal point, but perhaps not with design ; 
for the situation of the ground would invite the operator 
to choose the present form. The north west joins to, and 
is secured by the pool. 

As the works are much in the Roman taste, I might, at 
first view, deem it the residence of an opulent lord of the 
manor ; but the adjacent lands carrying no marks of cul- 
tivation, destroys the argument ; it is also too large for the 
fashion ; besides, all these manorial foundations have been 
in use since the conquest, therefore tradition assists the 
historian : but here, tradition being lost, proves the place 
of greater antiquity. 

One might judge it of Danish extraction, but here, 
again, tradition will generally lend her assistance ; neither 
are the trenches large enough for that people ; of them- 
selves they are no security, whether full or empty ? for an 
active young fellow might easily skip from one bank to 
another. Nor can we view it as the work of some whim- 
sical lord, to excite the wonder of the moderns ; it could 
never pay for the trouble. We must, therefore, travel back 
among the ancient Britons, for a solution, and here we 
shall travel over solid ground. 

It is, probably, the remains of a British camp, for near 
these premises are Drude Heath (Druid's Heath) and 
Drude Fields, which we may reasonably suppose was the 
residence of a British priest ; the military would naturally 
shelter themselves under the wing of the church, and the 
priest with the protection of the military. The narrow- 
ness of the trenches is another proof of its being British ; 



478 HISTORY OF 

they exactly correspond with the style of that people. 
The name of the pool, Bowen, is of British derivation, 
which is a farther proof that the work originated from the 
Britons. They did not place their security so much in the 
trenches, as in the mounds, which they barricaded with 
timber. This camp is secured on three sides by a morass, 
and is only approachable on the fourth, that from the Cold- 
field. The first mound on this weak side is twenty -four 
yards over, twice the size of any other ; which, allowing an 
ample security, is a farther evidence of its being British, 
and tradition being- silent is another. 

Danes Camp, Danes Bank, or Bury Fields. 

About five miles south of Birmingham, and five 
furlongs off Solihull Lodge, is a place called The Danes 
Camp. But although neither history nor tradition speak 
of this particular event, it probably was raised in the 
ninth century. 

The situation is well chosen, upon an eminence, about 
nine acres, nearly triangular, is yet in tolerable perfection ; 
the ditch is about twenty feet wide : the base of the bank 
about the same ; admits but of one entrance, and is 
capable of being- secured by water. From the bottom 
of the ditch, to the top of the mound, was, when 
made, about twenty feet ; and is a production of great 
labour. 

The Camp. 

I have already remarked, a spirit of bravery is part of 
the British character. The perpetual contests for power, 
among" the Britons, the many roads formed by the Romans, 
to convey their military force, the prodigious number of 
camps, moats, and broken castles, left us by the Saxons, 
Danes, and Normans, our common ancestors, indicate a 
martial temper. The names of those heroic sovereigns, 



BIRMINGHAM. 479 

Edward the III., and Henry the V., who brought 
their people to the fields of conquest, descend to posterity 
with the highest applause, though they brought their king- 
dom to the brink of ruin ; while those quiet princes, 
Henry the VII., and James the I., who cultivated the arts 
of peace, are but little esteemed, though under their 
sceptre, England experienced the greatest improvement. — 
The man who dare face an enemy, is the most likely to 
gain a friend. A nation versed in arms, stands the fairest 
chance to protect its property, and secure its peace : war 
itself may be hurtful, the knowledge of it useful. 

In Mitchly Park, three miles west of Birmingham, in 
the parish of Edgbaston, is The Camp ; which might be 
ascribed to the Romans, lying within two or three stones 
cast of their Ikenield Street, where it divides the counties 
of Warwick and Worcester, but is too extensive for that 
people, being about thirty acres ; I know none of their 
camps more than four, some much less ; it must, therefore, 
have been the work of those pilfering vermin the Danes, 
better acquainted with other people's property than their 
own ; who first swarmed on the shores, then over -ran the 
interior parts of the kingdom, and, in two hundred years, 
devoured the whole. 

No part of this fortification is wholly obliterated, though, 
in many places, it is nearly levelled by modern cultivation, 
that dreadful enemy to the antiquary. Pieces of armour 
are frequently ploughed up, particularly parts of the sword 
and the battleaxe, instruments much used by those de- 
structive sons of the Raven. 

The platform is quadrangular, every side nearly four 
hundred yards ; the centre is about six acres, surrounded 
by three ditches, each about eight yards over, at unequal 
distances ; though upon a descent, it is amply furnished 
with water. An undertaking of such immense labour, 
could not have been designed for temporary use. 



480 



HISTORY OF 



The propriety of the spot, and the rage of the day for 
fortification, seem to have induced the Middlemores, lords 
of the place for many centuries, and celebrated for riches, 
but in the beginning of this work, for poverty, to erect 
a park, and a lodge; nothing- of either exist, but the 
names. 

Mortimer's Bank. 

The traveller who undertakes an extensive journey, 
cannot choose his road, or his weather ; sometimes the 
prospect brightens, with a serene sky, a smooth path, and 
a smiling sun ; all within and without him is cheerful. 
Anon he is assailed by the tempests, stumbles over the 
ridges, is bemired in the hollows, the sun hides his face, 
and his own is sorrowful — this is the lot of the historian ; 
he has no choice of subject, merry or mournful, he must 
submit to the changes which oifer ; delighted with the 
prosperous tale, depressed with the gloomy. 

I am told, this work has often drawn a smile, from the 
reader — it has often drawn a sigh from me. A celebrated 
painter fell in love with the picture he drew — I have wept 
at mine : such is the chapter of the lords, and the work- 
house. We are not always proof against a melancholy or 
a tender sentiment. Having pursued our several stages, 
with various fortune, through fifty chapters, at the close 
of this last tragic scene, emotion and the journey cease 
together. 

Upon King's Wood, five miles from Birmingham, and two 
hundred yards east of the Alcester road, runs a bank for 
near a mile in length, unless obliterated by the new in- 
closure ; for I saw it complete in 1775. This was raised 
by the famous Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, about 
1324, to inclose a wood, from whence the place derives its 
name. Then that feeble monarch, Edward the II., 
governed the kingdom ; the amorous Isabella, his wife, 






BIRMINGHAM. 481 

governed the king, and the gallant Mortimer governed the 
queen. 

The parishes of King's Norton, Solihull, and Yardley, 
uniting in this wood, and enjoying a right of commons, 
the inabitants conceived themselves injured by the inclosure, 
assembled in a body, threw down the fence, and murdered 
the Earl's bailiff. Mortimer, in revenge, procured a 
special writ from the Court of Common Pleas, and caused 
the matter to be tried at Bromsgrove, where the affrighted 
inhabitants, over-awed with power, durst not appear in 
their own vindication. The earl, therefore, recovered a 
verdict, and the enormous sum of £300 damage. A sum 
nearly equal, at that time, to the fee-simple of the three 
parishes. 

The confusion of the times, and the poverty of the 
people, protracted payment, till the unhappy Mortimer, 
overpowered by his enemies, was seized as a criminal in 
Nottingham Castle ; and, without being* heard, executed 
at Tyburn in 1328. 

The distressed inhabitants of the three parishes humbly 
petitioned the crown for a reduction of the fine ; when 
Edward the III. was pleased to remit about £260. 

We can assign no reason for this imprudent step of in- 
closing the wood, unless the earl intended to procure a 
grant of the manor, then in the crown, for his family. But 
what he could not accomplish by finesse, was accomplished 
by fortune ; for George the III., King of Great Britain, is 
lord of the manor of King's Norton, and a descendant from 
the house of Mortimer. 



O Q 



482 



HISTORY OF 






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BIRMINGHAM. 485 

Court of Requests. 

(Continued from page 223.) 

In 1807, a new act was obtained to extend and improve 
this court. The sum recoverable was extended to £5. 
The court and prison is at present in High Street, nearly 
opposite New Street, in a building formerly a tea ware- 
house. It is too small, and very inconvenient for the 
several purposes. It is known by the name of the " Old 
Public Office," it being the building formerly occupied 
by the magistrates, before the prison in Moor Street was 
erected ; but generally by the more descriptive appellation 
of the " Louse-hole," alias " The Bug-hole." A table of 
the fees, as directed by the act, is hung up in the Court- 
house. There is no appeal from the decisions of this 
court. The imprisonment is limited to one hundred days, 
and is inflicted in proportion to the amount of the debt, 
unless in cases of fraud, when the commissioners have the 
the power to increase the imprisonment to the extent of 
three months. The payments are generally allotted to 
be made by instalments, and if they are neglected the body 
or goods of the party may be taken in execution. 



Lawrence Street Chapel, 

(Omitted, page 285 ) 

Originally belonged to the Baptists, but has been 
attended since the year 1830, by a sect calling themselves 
" Shilohites, or Lovers of Truth." There is neither singing 
norjpraying, and the men wear their hats in the chapel 
or not, as they please. The published works and manu- 
script explanations of some portion of the Bible, are 
generally read by one of the congregation, which are 
written by the founder of the sect, who styles himself, 
Zion Ward. They have no paid ministers, the seats are 



486 



HISTORY OF 



free, and the place is supported by a voluntary monthly 
subscription. Their fundamental doctrine is that " Ml 
scripture is given by inspiration of God," or is a divine 
parable, to be fulfilled in the acquisition and progress of 
divine knowledge in the human mind. It was at this 
chapel that four Shilohites married themselves, without the 
aid of priest or priestcraft ; the ceremony used upon this 
occasion, was noticed by a large portion of the English 
press, and nearly all the American newspapers have pub- 
lished it. The editor of the " Boston Investigator," in 
pointing it out to his readers as a practical illustration of 
the advancement of liberal principles, says, "At last 
Englishmen have began to marry themselves, without the 
aid of the clergy !" The following is a copy of the 
ceremony as advertised in the Birmingham Journal of 
May 10th, 1834. 

NOTICE. 

At Lawrence Street Chapel, Birmingham, May the 4th, 
after the morning service was over, four Christian Dis- 
senters desiring the congregation to stop, "took the 
marriage affair into their own hands," in the following 
manner : — 

(Copy.) 

Before this congregation I, Charles Bradley, Jun., give 
you, Emma Harris, this ring to wear as a memorial of 
our marriage, and this written pledge, stamped • with the 
impressions of the " United Rights of Man and Woman" 
declaring I will be your faithful husband from this time 
henceforward. 

(Signed) Charles Bradley, Jun. 

(Copy.) 

Before this congregation, I, Emma Harris, receive this 
ring to wear as a memorial of our marriage, and give you, 



BIRMINGHAM. 487 

Charles Bradley, Jun., this written pledge, stamped 
with the impressions of the " United Rights of Man and 
Woman" declaring I will be your faithful wife from this 
time henceforward. 

(Signed) Emma Harris. 

(Copy.) 

Before this congregation, I Roger Holinsworth, 
give you, Mary Louisa Bradley, this ring to wear as a 
memorial of our marriage, and this written pledge, stamped 
with the impressions of the " United Rights of Man and 
Woman" declaring- I will be your faithful husband from 
this time henceforward. 

(Signed) Roger Holinsworth. 

(Copy.) 

Before this congregation, I, Mary Louisa Bradley, 
receive this ring to wear as a memorial of our marriage, 
and give you, Roger Holinsworth, this written pledge, 
stamped with the impressions of the " United Rights of 
Man and Woman" declaring I will be your faithful wife 
from this time henceforward. 

(Signed) Mary Louisa Bradley. 

(Witnesses) Charles Bradley, Sen., 
Hannah Bradley, 
Wm. Harris, Sen., 
Elizabeth Harris, 
Thomas Tenant, 
Frances Bradley Tenant, 
Edwin Bradley, 
Charles Squire, 
And forty-two others. 



488 



HISTORY OF 



I have inserted the above in consequence of these being 
the first marriages of this kind, that have taken place. 
They bear so near an approximation to the marriages of 
Quakers for which, in fact, there is no law to authorise 
the celebration, any more than those of the Shilohites. 



The Japan Trade. 

(Omitted page 197.) 

About the year 1740, John Baskerville, who was as 
before stated, brought up to the trade of a stone-cutter, 
and afterwards followed the profession of a schoolmaster, 
introduced the art of japanning to Birmingham, and 
manufactured a great variety of articles then in demand ; 
but chiefly the more costly and ornamental productions of 
the art. John Taylor, whose manufactory was near the 
site of Union Street, soon after followed in this business, 
in addition to his other avocations. Henry Clay, Esq., 
who served the office of sheriff, in 1790, introduced the 
paper japan work, for which he obtained a patent. He 
improved the art, and brought the trade to a greater state 
of perfection, than any one that had preceded him. His 
paper work was celebrated throughout England, and in 
most of the foreign markets. The bronze work was first 
introduced by Clay, with complete success. His carriage 
was a complete pattern card of his trade : the pannels 
were made of paper, and the body of his coach was 
beautifully striped alternately chocolate and dark green. 
Baskerville's carriage, too, was adorned by the same art ; 
and my informant says, " I well remember this buck, 
riding in his carriage, drawn by a pair of beautiful cream 
coloured horses, with long tails." The number of japan 
manufacturers soon increased to about six. Fashion and 
caprice have done much to vary the form and quality of 
japan ware ; and competition has reduced the profits of 



BIRMINGHAM. 



489 



the trade to mediocrity. About 1775, tea-trays, or as they 
were then called, waiters, seldom exceeded twenty to twenty- 
four inches in length, and the only forms then made, were 
round, square, and oval, with pierced edges. The centres 
of them were either black, or in imitation of tortoiseshell. 
The black trays, after they had received two or three coats 
of varnish, being well hardened in the stove between each 
coat, were put into the hands of the polisher, whose busi- 
ness it was to give them a perfectly smooth surface, by rub- 
bing them with pulverized pumice-stone, then withpulver-. 
ized rotten-stone, and finishing with powdered rotten-stone 
and the bare hand. The tortoiseshell was produced as fol- 
lows : — after these trays had received a smooth surface from 
the pumice-stone, a thin transparent varnish was laid over 
the tray, and for the best works, leaf silver was laid upon 
this, to which it adhered, it was then hardened in the 
stove, and a body of pontipool varnish was two or three 
times laid over it ; by the heat of the stove this was made 
opaque. A piece of pumice-stone was then applied to the 
parts where a tortoiseshell spot should appear, rubbing off 
the upper coat of varnish, so as to expose the surface of 
the silver ; the article was again put into the stove and 
hardened sufficiently to receive its final polish. Common 
tortoiseshell was made by the use of vermillion, instead of 
silver-leaf. Pontipool varnish is converted into opaque 
jet, by the application of lamp-black. Dutch tobacco- 
boxes were formerly manufactured in great quantities, 
from three to six inches long, and two to three and a half 
inches wide. A man with a wide mouth was usually 
compared to a Dutchman's tobacco box, for when his mouth 
was open, his head was half off. A variety of other 
Dutch articles were then manufactured. At this time the 
borders of the articles were usually painted with various 
devices. The yellow and Dutch metals imported from 
Holland, were used for that purpose. A spirit lacquer was 

3 R 



490 HISTORY OF 

laid on to improve the colour, and make them look more 
like gold and silver leaf. Party-coloured leaves were 
afterwards used, but were soon set aside by the introduc- 
tion of real gold-leaf; and subsequently, the intro- 
duction of coloured bronzes obtained so great a pre- 
ference, that they came into general use, and for cheapness 
and beauty, cannot be excelled by any previous in- 
vention. 

There are six waiter and tray blank makers in Birming- 
ham, who employ about one hundred and ten persons, all 
males. There are twenty-one regular japauners, who 
employ upwards of five hundred persons, one half of whom 
are females. Those who make tin goods only, have not 
been reckoned. There are five paper tray makers in 
Birmingham, whose busines it is to make the trays for the 
japanners, and probably employ at least sixty persons. 
The returns from this business, is supposed to be little 
short of £100,000 per annum. The nominal prices of the 
blanks have not varied for the last forty or fifty years, but 
the discount allowed has gradually increased during 1 that 
time. Formerly the blank maker allowed ten per cent 
discount, but at the present time eighty per cent, that is, 
if he take to a warehouse, goods to the amount of £100, 
he will receive just £20. Common round corner trays 
with imitation border, thirty inches long-, are sold at 
from sixteen to twenty shillings per dozen. These great 
reductions may be thus accounted for : — iron is considerably 
cheaper, the trays are made more slight, wages are re- 
duced one half, and in some cases three fourths, and many 
improved methods have been adopted, both in making- the 
blanks, and in the japanning, but more particularly in the 
latter. The trays only get one or two coats of varnish, 
instead of four or five, as formerly. The varnish, which cost 
eight shillings per gallon some years ago, now costs from 
three shilling's, to three shillings and sixpence. The 



BIRMINGHAM. 491 

centre of a thirty-inch tray is now painted for fourpence, 
that used to occupy half a day. The figures intended to 
ornament a tray are drawn upon paper, and transferred to 
the tray, and in some cases the same methods are adopted 
as stencillers use to imitate paper upon house walls. Not- 
withstanding the prices have been so reduced, the trade 
has kept advancing to perfection. Excellent work is still 
got up, which commands a good price, and none but the 
best will obtain good prices. 

Public Libraries. 

(Continued from page 229.) 

The old library, established upon a narrow foundation 
in 1779, was considerably improved and extended, under 
the management of Dr. Priestley, in 1782, and now con- 
tains upwards of twenty thousand volumes, including 
public records, printed by order of the government. The 
ticket of admission is now worth ten pounds, and the 
annual subscription one pound. The building in Union 
Street, for the accomodation of the books, was erected in 
1798, upon the tontine plan. The new library, situated 
in Temple Row, West, was commenced in the year 1796, 
and was carried on in a building in Cannon Street, till 
1821, when it was removed to the present commodious 
building, erected for the purpose by tontine subscription. 
This library also contains a valuable collection of books, 
amounting to nearly ten thousand volumes. Annual sub- 
scription, one pound. 



FINIS. 



JAMES GUEST, 

Opposite the Meeting House, 

STEELHOUSE LANE, BIRMINGHAM, 

Has constantly on Sale a greater variety of Periodicals, in numbers,, 
parts, and volumes, than any house out of London ; he begs to call the 
attention of the Public to the following complete Works: — 

Saturday Magazine, volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, 4s. 6d. each, 
bound in stout cloth; or in three thick volumes 7s. 6d. each. 

Penny Magazine, volume 1, 6s. ; volume 2, and 3, 7s. 6d. each. 

Penny Cycl poedia, volume 1, 2, and 3, beautifully bound in cloth 
7s. 6d. each. 

Dublin Penny Journal, volumes 1, 2, and 3, price 6s. 6d. each, 
cloth and lettered 

Chambers' Journal, volume 1, 2, and 3, price 9s. 6d. each. 

Chambers' Information, price 8s 6d. 

Doctor, volumes 1 and 2, price 6s. 6d. 

Storyteller, volumes 1 and 2, 6s. 6d. each 

Guide to Knoiuledge, volume 1, price 9s. 6d. volume 2, price 7s. 

Mirror, volumes 1 to 24, price 5s. 6d. each. 

British Cyclopoedia, division 1 of Arts, Sciences, Manufactures, 
Commerce, &c. containing many Engravings on Steel, in two volumes, 
price 15s. each. Divisions 2 and 3 supplied as soon as published. 

ftd 3 The whole of the Parts and Weekly Numbers of the above, and 
many other useful Publications, are constantly on sale. 

MAP OF BIRMINGHAM, 

Printed upon a strong Demy sheet, price Is. dissected in case for the 
pocket, 2s. 6d., or on canvass and rollers, 3s. 



SCHOOL BOOKS, PAPER, AND EVERY DESCRIPTION OF STATIONERY, 



IBookfiiirBing, printing, ant! lEntjrabing ncatlg execute. 



INDEX. 



Page 
Address to the People of England 1 09 
Address on the rejection of the 

Reform Bill . .121 

Air . . . 12 

All Saints . . .271 

Amusements . . 288 

Ancient State of Birmingham . 16 
Arms . . .247 

Architecture . . 78 

Aston Furnace . . 20 

Aston Church . . 456 

Aston Manor . . 466 

Asylum, The . . 370 

Assay Office . . 388 

Baths . . .7 

Bathing its Antiquity . 8 

Battle of Camp Hill, 1643 . 37 

Banks . . .201 

Bailiffs Feast, Origin of .214 

Bailiffs, High and Low, 1732 to 

1790 . . .218 

Ditto 1791 to 1834 . . 482 

Barracks for Cavalry . . 389 

Beardsworth's Repository . 395 

Belfries, taken by storm . 109 

Bellows, manufacture of . 193 

Bellows, curious . .189 

Bequests . . . 249 

Berwood . . . 463 

Birmingham, in the time of the 

Britons . . .24 

Birmingham, Population at the 

Restoration . .68 

Birmingham, Boundaries of in 

1741 . . .69 

Birmingham, Boundaries of in 

1781 . . .70 

Birmingham, Boundaries and 

increase of 1791 . .71 

Birmingham, Boundaries and 

increase of 1834 . . 88 

Birmingham, Population, &c. 

750 to 1831 . . 77 

Bilston Canal Act . .441 

Blue Coat Charity School . 353 

Blue Coat, Peculation at . 356 

Black Greves . .445 



Page 

Blakeley . . . 470 

Bread, Prices of : 82, 87 

Brass Works . . 187 

Brazen Sovereigns . . 188 

Brass Foundry . . 188 

Brewery . . .198 

Brotherly Society . . 232 

Bull Baiting . . 95 

Burdett, Sir Francis . 103 

Buttons . . .171 

Button Shanks . .173 

Buckles . . . 174 
Buckle Trade, Rise and Fall of 176 
Burial Ground in Park Street . 245 
Carr's Lane, Meeting-House . 277 

Catholic Chapels . * 284 

Canals . . . 438 

Castle Bromwich . . 460 

Camp, The . . 478 

Chalybeate Spring . . 9 

Charters for Fairs . . 34 

Charter for Market . . 62 
Church Rates . 68, 242 

Christ Church . . 267 
Clarendon upon Birmingham 37, 39 

Clubs . . .293 

Clubs, Bene6t in Sickness . 294 

Clubs, Rent . . 295 

Clubs, Books . , 295 

Clubs, Building . . 296 

Clubs, Money . . 296 

Clodshale's Chantry . 338 

Cobbett, William . . 105 

Constables, 1680 to 1722 . 216 

Constables, 1732 to 1790 . 218 

Constables, 1791 to 1834 . 482 
Court of Requests . 222, 485 

Commercial Committee . 227 

Coining Copper . . 397 

County Gaol . . 407 

Corporation, a Petition for . 410 

Conjurors . . 433 

Coleshill . . 452 

Cross, Old . . 376 

Cross, Welsh . . 378 

Crowley's Trust . . 344 

Danes' Camp . , 478 



494 



INDEX. 



Descendants of Royalty 

Deritend 

Deritend, increase of 

Deritend Bridge 

Deritend Bridge Act 



Page 
. 30 
. 31 
. 76 
. 391 
. 392 
Declaration to the People of Ire- 
land . . .104 
Deaf and Dumb Institution . 356 
Distress of the People, and De- 
crease of the Population . 81 
Dinner at the Royal Hotel, July 

14, 1791, with toasts, &c. . 425 
Dinner of Political Union, Oct. 

11, 1830 . . Ill 

Dinner to Messrs. Attwood and 

Scholefield . .156 

Dissenting Charity School . 356 

Dispensary . . 383 

Dispensary, Self-Supporting . 384 
Doomsday Book . . 32 

Dugdale . . 16, 32 

Dudley, John, Duke of Nor- 
thumberland . a 322 
Dudley, John, his Execution . 327 
Duddeston . . 453 
Earl of Warwick, Descendants of 28 
Earl Grey's return to Office, 

May 15, 1832 . . 145 

Easter Dues . . 243 

Earthquake . .416 

Education, Public . . 229 

Education, Public, Statement of 239 
Education, General, of the 

Working Classes . . 360 

Edgbaston . . 457 

Election, The first . .154 

Erdington ; .463 

Extract from Vicar's God in the 

Mount . . .60 

Excise Office , . 388 

Fairs, Charters for ( . 34 

Fairs, Where held . . 35 

Fentham's Trust . . 343 

Fever Hospital . . 3S4 

Fire Offices . . 393 

Fortunes made in Birmingham 26 
Flags, Great Display of . 149 

Freeholds . .77 

Freehold of Parish, its value in 

1791 . . . 81 

Freehold, supposed value, 1834 88 
Free School, New Street . 345 

Free School, Nice Pickings, and 

Peculation of . . 348 

Free School, Charter infringed 

by governors holding property 348 
Gas Works . . 394 

Gentlemen Stamped, but not 

finished in Birmingham . 25 

General Baptists . .277 

Gentlemen's Seats . . 443 



Page 
Gooch, Sir Thomas, granted 

Leases . . .79 

Government . . 211 

Guns . . .181 

Gun Barrel, Proof House . 388 

Halesowen, Churchwardens' 

Ledger . . .36 

Hampden Club . . 83 

Habeas Corpus Act Suspended 83 
Hackney Coaches . . 200 

Hay Market . . 228 

Holt, Sir Charles . . 26 

Holt, Sir Lister . 454 

Houses rented at £1 

wards 
Hotel 
Hospital 
Hogg's Moat 
Humane Society 
Japan Trade 
Jewish Synagogue 
John-a-Dean's-Hole 
Ikenield Street 
Independents 
Infant School 
Institution for the 
Bodily Deformity 
Infirmary for Diseases 
Iron Stone 
Iron, Manufacture of 
Iron, Plots description of The . 183 
Iron, Fluctuation in the Price of 184 
Kent's Moat . . 448 

King's Hurst . . 449 

Lady Well . . 7 

Lamp Act . . 223 

Lady Huntingdon's Connexion 282 
Lancasterian School . 357 

Leland's description of Birming- 
ham . . ,16 
Letter from Coventry . 42 
Letter from Walshall . 48 
Leases for Building . 7 7 
Leather . . ■ .182 
Lench's Trust . .341 
Lie Waste, alias Mud City . 24 
Libraries, Public, 228, 263, 393, 491 



and up- 

. 88 
. 290 
. 380 
. 446 
. 227 
. 488 
. 284 
. 340 
. 297 
. 277 
. 359 

Relief of 

. 385 

of the Eye 385 
. 19 
. 182 



12 



In- 



14 
310 
312 
315 



Longevity 

Longevity, Remarkable 

stances of 
Lords of the Manor 
Lord Richard, 1066 
Lord William, 1130 
Lord Peter de Birmingham, 1154 315 
Lord Wm. de Birmingham, 1216 316 
Lord Wm. de Birmingham; 124G 317 
Lord Wm.de Birmingham, 1265 317 
Lord Wm. de Birmingham, 1306 318 
Lord Wm.de Birmingham, Lord 

Birmingham, 1316 .318 



INDEX. 



495 



Lord Sir Fouk de Birmingham, 

1340 . . 319 

Lord Sir John de Birmingham, 

1376 - - - 319 

Lord Wai. de Birmingham, 1430 320 
Lord Sir Wm. Birmingham, 1479 321 
Lord Edward Birmingham, 1500 321 
Lord John Duke of Northumber- 
land, 1537 - - 326 
Lord Thomas Marrow, 1555 - 328 
Lord Samuel Marrow, 1664 - 328 
Lord Thomas Archer, 1746 - 328 
Lord Archer, Andrew - 328 
Market Places - - 62 
Market Tolls - - 63 
Market Hall - - 63 
Market Supply - - 64 
Manor Sold - - 79 
Manchester Massacre - 85 
Manor House, the Moat - 329 
Magdalen Asylum - - 386 
Marriage, Ne'w Mode of - 486 
Medal of Political Union -102 
Meeting on New Hall Hill, 

October 3, 1831 - - 116 

Meeting, Great, May 7, 1832 - 128 
Ministers defeated in the Lords, 

May 7, 1832 -' - 135 

Ministers, their Resignation, May 

8, 1832 - - - 135 

Meeting Spontaneous, May, 10, 

1832 - - - 138 

Methodists - - 278 

Mechanics' Institution - 393 

Military Association - 413 

Modern State of Birmingham - 66 
Motion by Lord Ebrington, May 

10, 1832 - - 141 

Moats, The - - 445 

Mortimer's Bank - - 480 

Musical Festivals - 264, 382 

Music Receipts of, for each year 

since its commencement - 383 

Musical Performances for the 
Aged and Distressed House- 
keepers - . 387 
Name - - i 
Names of Streets, Derivation of 92 
Nails, Manufacture of - 191 
Nails, Cut - . 192 
Nailers' System of Faith - 192 
National or Madras School - 358 
New Hall - - 26 
New Hall Hill Meeting, 1819 - 83 
Newspapers, Tax on - 84 
New Meeting House - 273 
New Jerusalem Church - 281 
New Free School - - 282 
News Room - - 386 
Nelson's Monument - 390 
Officers of the Town - 213 



Pago 
O. G. Nobs - - 190 

Oliver, the Spy - - 84 

Old Meeting House -271 

Organization of the Union, pro- 
posed - 123 
Original mode of transacting 

business - - 194 

Parish Boundaries - - 3 

Parish Circumference and Con- 
tents - - 4 
Pavements first introduced - 34 
Parliamentary Reform Agi- 
tated . . 82 
Panic, Dec. 1825 
Parliament Prorogued, Oct. 20, 

1831 . .122 
Parliament Re-assembled, Dec. 

6, 1S31 . . 126 

Paupers, 1807 to 1826 .210 

Parsonage House of St. Martins 256 
Particular Baptists . 276 

Palmer, B. Esq. , a Singular Man 447 
Park Hall . . 462 

Petition in favour of rioters . 124 
Petition to Commons, May 10, 

1832 . . 139 
Pins, Manufacture of . 190 
Pitmore and Hammond . 417 
Pipe . . 465 
Poor Rates, Great Amount of . 83 
Political Union . 86, 96 
Political Union , Causes of Success 1 50 
Post Office . , 387 
Plot upon Iron Manufacture . 19 
Plague in Birmingham . 61 
Places of Worship . 243 
Philosophical Society ■ 386 
Prince Rvpert's Burning Love . 52 
Property, Increase of . 79 
Prosperity Remarkable . 85 
Prices, Decrease of . 86 
Procession to New-Hall Hill., 

May 16, 1832 . 146 

Printing, by John Baskerville . 195 
Priory, The . . 332 

Prison and Public Office . 404 

Pudding Brook . 332 

Public Roads . . 435 

Quakers' Meeting House . 283 

Rents of the Parish, 1791 . 80 

Rents of Small Houses . 88 

Rents General at Present , gg 

Reform, its Rise and Progress . 9G 
Reform Bill Rejected by Lords, 

Oct. 8, 1831 . .119 

Reform Bill Passed Commons, 

March 26, 1832 . 127 

Reform Bill Introduced Second 

Time, in Commons, June 24, 

1831, Passed Sept. 22 - 114 

Refining - - 173 



/ 



496 



Religion and Politics 

Rectors of St. Martin's 

Reading, an Amusement 

Riots - 81, 419, 

Riots, Claims for Damages, &c. 

Riots 1715 - 242, 

Riots on the Rejection of Reform 
Bill 

Roman History 

Roads, Indications of Antiquity 

Roads Very Deep by Long Use 

Saltley 

Saint Martin's 

Saint Martin's, Antiquity of 

Saint John's Chapel, Deritend - 

Saint Philip's 

Saint Bartholomew's 

Saint Mary's 

Saint Paul's 

Saint James, Ashted 

Saint George's 

Saint Thomas's 

Saint Peter's 

Serious Charge against a Book- 
seller and the Recommendation 
of a Sage 

Scott's Trust 

School of Medicine 

Savings' Bank 

Situation 

Soil 

Six Acts, The Infamous 

Song of Liberty 

Society of Arts 

Solemn Declaration 

Soho Manufactory 

Sherlock, Bishop of London, 
Prohibited Building 

Sheriffs of the County 

Sheldon • 

Streets, Errors in Making 

Street Acts - 62, 

Streets and their Names 

Steel 

Steel Pens 

Steelhouse Lane Meeting-House 

Stamp Office 



INDEX. 



/ o3 



Page 
240 
252 
290 
422 
432 
272 

121 

18 

21 

22 

458 

243 

30 

257 

258 

265 

266 

266 

267 

268 

270 

270 



170 

344 

385 

387 

3 

6 

84 

130 

385 

143 

395 

79 
222 
449 

23 

223 

90 

184 

186 

278 
388 



Papc 
397 
237 
475 
179 



Steam Engine, Improved 

Sunday School, Jubilee 

Sutton Coldfield 

Swords 

Swords, Superiority of the 

Birmingham Blades 
Smithfield 
Taylor, John Esq. 
Toy Trades 

Town Hall - - 

Town Hall Organ 
Terrier of the Rectory of St. 

Martin's, in 16S0 
Thread 
Theatres 
Theatres Burnt 
Trades Unions 
Trespassers 
Trade 

Trade, Deceit in 
Trinity Chapel, Bordesley 
Victims to Parliamentary Reform 
Ulverley or Culverley 
Umbrella 
Water - 
Waterworks 
Warlike Instruments of the 

Britons 
Wakes . 
Ward End 

Wednesbury, Old Field 
Wealth 
Wealth Points the Joke and 

makes an Argument Weighty 205 
Wealth, Statement of 1783 - 206 
Wealth, Statement of 1828 - 208 
Weighty Argument - 254 

Welsh Charity - - 358 

We"oley - - 471 

Witton - - - 468 

Wolsley, Sir Charles - 84 

Workhouse - - 361 

Workhouse, Expenditure of 1676 

to 1834 - - 366 

Workhouse Bill - - 370 

Yardley - - 448 



180 
63 
169 
170 
400 
402 

- 255 

- 194 

- 285 

- 287 

- 87 
91, 226 ' 

- 157 

- 158 

- 269 
84 

446 

199 

6 

10 

19 

292 

459 

20 

202 



London: Johnston, Printer, Lovell's Court. St. Paul's 



yu^if^c 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




006 137 278 7 



mm. 

111 

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